


Stuck With A Stark

by forge-heat (Michdelish)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Modern AU, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, This is my first fic so be gentle, University AU, romantically it's a slow burn, sexually it's a quick simmer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-09-23 01:27:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20331766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michdelish/pseuds/forge-heat
Summary: Things get off to a bumpy start when Gendry and Arya are assigned to work together on a huge project for their Intro to Westerosi History class at Oldtown University. Being stuck with each other seems like a nightmare, but as they spend more time working together, they realise their growing attraction may become the bigger problem.A modern university AU, in which lots of naughty things happen. Includes bickering, sexual tension, long hours in the library, the world’s most complicated assignment, and much, much more!Starring Gendry ‘good with his hands’ Waters, and Arya ‘these feelings won’t be a problem’ Stark. Also featuring Ned Dayne in the role of convenient plot device.





	1. Partners

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first Gendrya fic, and my first fic containing smut, and that’s because it’s the first fic I’ve ever written. I would appreciate any feedback you have to offer. Enjoy!

As Gendry Waters waited for his Friday afternoon class to start, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the conversation he overheard.

“She was _sooo_ drunk last night,” said a tall girl, giggling with her friend.

“Oh my God, it was such a great party though,” said a shorter, curvier girl. She smiled brightly, clearly still buzzing from the night before.

“Maybe for you,” whined the tall girl, “but between looking after Beth, and fending off that guy who kept–”

The girls, distracted from their conversation, turned to watch as an exhausted looking boy walked in. He dropped his bag with a _thunk_, and laid his head on the desk, shielding his eyes with his arm.

“Do you think he’s even been home yet?” asked the shorter girl.

“I doubt it,” answered the tall girl, “the party was still going strong when I left.” They laughed quietly as the boy started to snore.  
  
  
They were several weeks in to second semester, and so far Gendry had managed to keep to himself in this class. He hadn’t enjoyed all the social drama that unfolded around him in his first year, and he didn’t feel the need to experience it again, second hand.

Ordinarily, a third year like Gendry wouldn't take an introductory class with a bunch of first years. However, due to a recent change in the curriculum, he’d found himself missing a credit he needed to meet the requirements of his scholarship. His foster family would never have been able to send him to Oldtown University without a scholarship, but thankfully Gendry’s personal essay about the lessons he’d learnt growing up in Flea Bottom after his mum died had convinced the university that he was deserving of financial support. 

The only class that had been available this semester that would give him the missing credit was Intro to Westerosi History. He had been enrolled in Professor Tyrion Lannister’s class, and had been doing well so far. He’d been worried the class would be boring, having already taken History classes in his first and second years, but it had proven to be much more interesting than he’d expected, with very few overlaps of the material he’d studied in the past. It wasn’t the easy ride he’d been hoping for, but Professor Lannister had an engaging way of presenting the material, and he was always happy to go over anything Gendry had questions about.

Gendry was on track to receive at least a B grade, another requirement of his scholarship. He just had to keep doing well in his assessments, and he didn’t think he would have any trouble with that. In fact, as Professor Lannister walked in and tried to get the attention of the class, Gendry thought about how easy it would be to make it through this course without any trouble at all.  
  
  
“I’m handing out the major assessment task for this course,” Professor Lannister said, as he passed around a thick document to each student. “The grade you receive will amount to fifty percent of your final mark.” Worried murmurs rose around the room. Gendry sighed, unimpressed that he’d have to find time for a huge assignment.

“Yes, it will be quite a lot of work. But, not to worry, you won’t be alone.”

_Oh no_, thought Gendry.

“You’ll be working in pairs.”

_Oh for fuck’s sake._

“Now, I’ve assigned your partners based on a very carefully devised selection algorithm. Basically, whoever is sitting next to you is your new partner.”

Gendry looked to his left at a rather hopeless looking boy who always wore a vague expression, and asked an annoying number of questions. Thankfully, the boy had turned to his other side and partnered up with some other poor student.

Gendry turned to his right and was met with steely grey eyes looking him up and down. The tiny woman sitting beside him had several piercings in her ear, and was wearing a tight black dress, a checked flannel shirt tied around her waist, and heavy black boots. It was a ridiculously good look on her.

“Fine,” she said plainly, once she had thoroughly assessed Gendry, then she went back to chewing her gum and drawing in the margins of her notebook.

“Now that you’re all well acquainted,” Professor Lannister said above the chatter, “I’d like to mention that I will not be accepting requests to change partners for anything less than a very serious reason. As in treasonous-conspiracy-to-commit-regicide, serious. It is in your best interests to get along, as you’ll have to work together for the rest of the semester. Any questions? No? Wonderful.”

—

When the class was over, Gendry turned to his brand new project partner and introduced himself.

“Uh… Hi.”

“Hi.”

“I’m Gendry.”

“Arya.”

_So far, so good._

“So, this looks like a shit-ton of work. The assessment outline alone is three pages,” he said.

“Looks like each part has lots of sub-parts, too,” she commented, flicking through her own briefing booklet.

“We’ll have to work out a time to get started on it.” Gendry was beginning to fret as he looked over the requirements. “God, I hate partnered projects.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“No, sorry,” he sighed, “I just meant it’s hard to find time to work together, with different class schedules, and extra-curriculars, and all.”

“Right.” She wrote her phone number on a scrap of notepaper. “I gotta run. When you’ve read through the brief, text me your ideas and I’ll tell you which ones don’t suck.” Gendry huffed out a laugh at her remark, hoping it was a joke.

“Erm, Arya?” He stopped her before she made it out the door. “I take my grade in this class seriously. I need to do well on this project.”

“You don’t think I’ll take it seriously?” she asked pointedly.

“No, no, I just... wanted to mention it, that’s all.”

“Message received,” she said in a mock-serious tone. He heard her snort as she walked out of the classroom.

_Fucking brilliant._

  
**—:—:—**

  
  
Arya Stark lay across her bed that evening, reading through the assessment information again, and realising this project would be pretty demanding. She hadn’t had to do anything as major as this for her subjects in first semester, and so far, her second semester course-load hadn’t been too overwhelming. She suspected that might be about to change.

Arya had felt a wave of dread when Professor Lannister had mentioned working in pairs, and she desperately wanted to avoid being stuck with some useless moron who left her with the bulk of the work. She hadn’t really known much about the guy she’d been sitting next to, other than the fact that he wasn’t a first year, and that his very attractive face was almost always marked with a frown. She wasn’t filled with confidence at the exchange they’d shared after class either, but Professor Lannister had made it clear that they were stuck with each other, whether they liked it or not. She really hoped this wouldn’t be a case of ‘_or not_’.

She set the alarmingly dense booklet aside, and opened her emails, pleased to find one from her mother. Arya knew how proud her family was that she had chosen to attend Oldtown University. In her final year of high school she hadn’t really been sure what she wanted to do. She’d thought she might take some time off to travel and have experiences beyond the life she’d known in Winterfell. She knew her mother wouldn’t like the idea, but Arya had felt that becoming an adult meant it was important to do what was right for her. However, after the accident, as Bran was learning to live without the use of his legs, and her parents had been grappling with the changes they had to make, Arya had decided there were more important things than just doing what she wanted.

Despite a number of offers, she had ended up choosing Oldtown, knowing how much it would mean to her parents if she attended the university where they’d met. Not to mention the fact that both her older siblings, and her cousin, and… whatever Theon was, had all been to, or were currently attending Oldtown. She’d realised how much easier it was to transition to life at university when she had her family around her, and had assured herself that there would be time for exploring the world later. Besides, anything could become an adventure if you tried hard enough.

Robb and Jon had graduated and were working in the city now, but they still tried to visit her and Sansa and Theon when they could. Arya wasn’t sure what Theon had settled on studying, since he'd changed his mind so many times. At this point, even though he hung out with them a least once a week, she didn’t bother asking. She couldn’t keep up anymore.

Arya found herself smiling as she read about how her mother’s new vegetable garden was growing, and about Rickon’s victorious football game, and she felt comforted by the warm reminders of home. She was relieved at the way things seemed to be working out. Bran had gotten used to the changes in his life and seemed fairly content with it all, and her parents said that things were starting to feel normal again.  
  
  
Arya was pulled from her thoughts about home when she felt her phone buzz with a message.

** _Shireen  
_ ** ** _ARYAAA!!!! OMG Arya I can’t even breathe. HUGH. ASKED. ME. OUT._ **

Arya’s eyes widened at the news. She knew Shireen had been hopelessly crushing on the boy in her chemistry class, and Arya had taken every opportunity to make jokes about their _chemistry_, which Shireen had not enjoyed quite so much. Arya was happy for her friend, but suspected that Shireen was probably working herself up into a panic attack about it.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _This is a big development! When is your HOT DATE??_ **

** _Shireen  
_ ** ** _OH MY GOD, Arya it’s next Thursday! I have less than a week to work out what I’m gonna wear! HELPPP_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Deep breaths! You know you can borrow anything of Sansa’s or mine. I’ll ask her about that blue top of hers you like so much._ **

** _Shireen  
_ ** ** _You are both amazing, and I love you, and I’m gonna go hyperventilate now._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _In and out. In and out._ **

Arya rolled off her bed and walked into the main room of their apartment. Sansa was sitting in the middle of the couch with papers spread out around her. Her hair was twisted up to keep it off her face, and Arya knew she only wore it that way when she had to concentrate.

“Can Shireen borrow that blue blouse of yours for a date next week?”

Sansa held up a finger, silently asking Arya to hold on while she finished reading the page she was editing. Arya perched on the armchair while she waited.  
  
  
Arya had been relieved that she and Sansa could share an apartment right near campus, saving her from the torturous experience of living in a dorm. She didn’t think that a lifestyle involving so many people being crammed in together was something she was particularly well suited to. She found it much easier to be friendly with people when she had a safe place to retreat to. She also suspected that after everything Sansa had been through in the abusive relationship she’d escaped, her sister liked having Arya close. They certainly got along better now than they ever did as children.  
  
  
“Sorry, what did you say?” Sansa asked, setting her report aside, and bringing Arya’s attention back to her.

“That boy finally got up the nerve to ask out Shireen.”

“Thank God, she was hinting hard enough!”

“Oh man, I know,” said Arya. “Anyway she loves that blue top of yours. Do you mind if she borrows it for next week?”

“Oh no, I think it would just hang off her. What about my green one? The sleeveless one with the beading around the neck? I think she would look lovely in that.”

“I’m sure she’d appreciate anything you think would suit her,” said Arya, grateful that her sister’s fashion instincts were a bit more developed than her own.

“Tell her to come grab it any time.”

“Thanks, Sans.”

As her phone buzzed again, Arya expected to see another message from Shireen, but instead found a message from an unknown number. 

** _Unknown  
_ ** ** _Hey Arya, this is Gendry…_ **

Arya let out an irritated sigh, and saved his number into her phone, deciding to ignore the rest of the message for now.

“What’s changed your mood so suddenly?” asked Sansa.

“It’s my new parter for this stupid assessment,” Arya huffed.

“How has he managed to displease you already?” Sansa’s voice danced with humour. Arya shot her sister an offended glare, but told her about it anyway.

“He just looks so grumpy all the time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without a frown. Plus he basically said he would rather work alone, and seemed horrified at the idea of having to spend the rest of the semester working on this project with me.”

“The rest of the semester? Wow, this sounds like a big assignment. What subject is this?”

“Intro to Westerosi History.”

“History? It’s an enormous, months-long History assessment? With a partner?” Sansa’s voice became slightly more panicked with each question.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, dear. Arya, this is… Oh, dear.”

“Sansa, what are you on about?”

“You might have been a bit too young to be aware of it, but when Robb took History in his first year, he had to do a big partnered assessment. Arya, it was… it was bad,” Sansa said gravely.

“You’re making it sound like he was in a war, or something,” laughed Arya.

“I swear to God, I think he has PTSD over it! He’s never mentioned it again, but like, in a bad way. Just… Please, Arya, make sure you start working on it early. That was Robb’s big mistake. He and his partner left it too late to start and by the end…”

Arya kept waiting for Sansa to laugh and break the joke. Honestly, it all sounded a bit much, but when her sister remained serious, Arya couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

“Umm… okay. Well, I’ll be sure to whip this guy into shape, and make sure we’re organised,” she tried to reassure Sansa.

“Good. And Arya, please come to me if you need any help coping with this. I don’t want to see you go through what Robb did.”

Arya bit her lip to keep from laughing at Sansa’s earnest tone. She knew Sansa took things more seriously that she did, but honestly, it was more like Arya to be the melodramatic one.

“I will, I promise,” said Arya as she headed back to her room. Her amusement faded as she went to read Gendry’s message properly, and found he’d sent her another one.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Hey Arya, this is Gendry. Gendry Waters. Just getting in touch so you have my number. Let me know when you’re free to start working on this thing._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Also, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. Didn’t mean to sound like I was calling you flakey or anything, just wanted to make it clear that I’d take it seriously._ **

Arya rolled her eyes at his message. _No kidding_, she thought. She’d never met anyone who looked so damn serious all the time. She couldn’t help getting in the last word about it, though.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _No danger of that, Gendry. Gendry Waters. That frown of yours already told me you were serious. Apart from classes and lectures, I’m pretty much available. Just not Tuesday nights._ **

**** ** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Ok, I’ll get in touch when I’ve had some time to read over the brief again._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Fine with me._ **

Arya let out a huff, and tossed her phone on her bed. She sincerely hoped Sansa’s warning had been an exaggeration, otherwise she would be in for a very long semester.


	2. Source of Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry and Arya have to find a way to work together if they’re going to survive this assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of quick things:  
I’m Australian, but I picture the characters to be in a British-influenced Westeros, like in the show. I’ve also thrown in some Americanisms for good measure. Basically, all flavours of the English language.
> 
> I’ve never had a traditional university-style education, so references to that are based pretty much entirely off movies and TV. Apologies for anything that’s not right.
> 
> I haven’t read the books, so my description of Ned Dayne is based purely off what I’ve read in other people’s fics, but that shouldn’t matter because he’s just a handy plot device to get our favourite idiots together.
> 
> Happy reading!

Arya was distracted as she hurried across the main courtyard on Monday morning. She’d hit ‘_snooze_’ on her alarm one too many times, and was now cutting it fine to make it to her Anthropology lecture.

“Oh, sorry. My bad,” Arya apologised, before realising it was Gendry she’d just bumped into. He was clearly on his way back from some kind of practical class, judging by his dirty clothes.

“Oh, hey! I need to talk to you,” he said, “I think we need to go with Aegon the Conqueror for our king. There’s just so much written about him, we’ll have plenty of material to work with. It’s the easiest choice.”

“It’s the most boring choice,” she retorted. “Everyone will pick Aegon because they think he’s the easiest, but there are so many rubbish sources out there that the good quality sources are harder to find. We can afford to take the time to find someone more interesting, with fewer, better quality sources,” she argued. “There are better kings out there, Gendry, and better men who wrote about them.” She had to prove that she wouldn’t let him just take control.

“I don’t want to waste time deciding who to pick, I just want to pick someone and get on with the research,” Gendry countered.

“See, now I’ve gotta go, and you’ve wasted all this time arguing about it, and we still haven’t decided. Now we _have_ to keep our options open.” She shrugged a sarcastic apology as she turned to walk away.

“That’s… that’s not how arguments work!” he called after her.

“I’ll look forward to arguing about that with you next time,” she shouted over her shoulder. She wasn’t going to let some bull-headed grouch railroad her. It was her project too, and she was going to make sure they did it right.

**—:—:—**

“Does Pod ever get requests for anything other than Ed Sheeran songs?” Gendry asked his colleague behind the bar, later that night.

“Not in recent memory,” Hot Pie replied. “S’pose his voice suits those kinda songs. Not to mention it helps ‘im with the ladies.” He nudged Gendry, and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Thought that had less to do with the magic voice, and more to do with the magic cock.”

“‘At’s just a rumour.”

“Pretty persistent one,” muttered Gendry, as he knelt to restock one of the fridges.

Gendry had been working at the Silly Bobby pub on campus since the third week of his first year. It paid him enough to cover his day-to-day expenses, without requiring too much of his time. He usually worked there three nights a week, but they could be flexible if he needed to change things around.

Hot Pie worked in the kitchen, but since students mostly came there to drink rather than eat, he often hung around behind the bar with Gendry, and helped him with the drink orders when it got busy. Gendry supposed they’d become friends, working together. They hadn’t really been trying to, it just sort of happened over time.

Podrick, who universally went by Pod, unless he was being spoken to by his stern Essosi Lit professor, had been hired as an entertainer a few months ago. He sang beautifully, and played the guitar pretty well too, which meant most of the requests he received were for Ed Sheeran songs, and other similar artists. Gendry had gotten to know Ed’s music _very_ well.

Pod, having just finished his set, came up to the bar for some water.

“So what’s this big assignment you mentioned? Is that what’s got you looking grumpier than usual?” Pod teased.

“It’s a monstrosity of a thing for my Intro to Westerosi History class,” Gendry grumbled. “Fifteen page briefing book, mind you. We’ve got to pick an old king, and then it’s got a half-dozen different aspects of their reign that we have to analyse and report on in excruciating detail. It’s not due ’til almost the end of the semester, so it’s gonna be months of work. And, cherry on top, the girl I’m stuck working with has a bad attitude. So forgive me if I’m not feeling too cheery.” Gendry could feel his blood pressure rising at the thought of what lay ahead.

“Is she hot?” asked Hot Pie.

“What the hell’s that got to do with anything?”

“It’s a lot of time to spend with a hot girl. Working so closely together, lots of late nights, having to rely on each other… I’m just sayin’.”

“Well… Don’t,” said Gendry.

“Ah, so she is hot,” Pod surmised.

“Doesn’t matter that she’s hot, she’s gonna be a nightmare to work with. Stop looking at me like that, the pair of you.”

“You guys could always come and work on it ‘ere,” suggested Hot Pie, “that way we could get to know ‘er, and put in a good work for ya!”

“Yeah, and I’ll make sure I only do love songs that night,” Pod added, unhelpfully.

“Oh, fuck off, both of you.”

Between Arya’s attitude, and the teasing from the lads, he was already in a pretty bad mood, but when the entire second year men’s football team bustled in, he knew he was in for a long night.

**—:—:—**

“This,” Gendry proclaimed the next day, as he smacked a wad of papers down in front of Arya, “is just a small selection of the information available about Aegon the Conqueror.” Gendry raised a smug eyebrow, hoping he’d made a solid argument that couldn’t possibly be refuted.

“How’d you even know I would be at the library?” she asked.

“I know things,” he said, trying to throw her off balance and gain the upper hand.

“Okay, I’m just gonna brush past that super creepy comment and go straight to crushing your argument. This,” she held up a bundle of photocopied pages, “is a copy of an original Small Council records book from the time of the ascension of King Bran the Broken.” She placed the file before him.

“How did you even get something like that?”

“My dad works in government, in the Small Council office. He got access to the Council archives, right underneath the office building, and found records dating back centuries. He was so excited to have a reason to visit it.” She smiled as she spoke of her father's enthusiasm.

“So you’ve got your dad doing your assignment for you?” Gendry could hear the bitterness in his voice, but he felt bitter, so what did it matter. He saw Arya’s expression turn sour.

“Don’t be a dick,” she snapped. “This is a great primary source that no one else has access to. Are you really gonna pass that up because you’re too stubborn to admit that I’m right?”

Gendry took a deep breath to try and calm himself down before he spoke. He wasn’t sure it helped, but eventually he answered.

“I’ll take a look,” he mumbled, darkly.

“Look fast.”

“Weren’t you the one that said we had plenty of time to make up our minds?”

Gendry left before Arya could get the last word in, which he knew would irritate her enormously. He smiled at the thought, but found himself frustrated at how easily she was able to one-up him when they disagreed. He had walked in there feeling cocky about how much he’d been able to find, and she’d somehow managed to gain the upper hand anyway. He figured it probably helped having connections that could just wander in to some government archive and pluck the history right off the shelves.

_Better be a damn good source,_ he thought sorely. To think he’d been worried about being partnered with someone who wouldn’t do their fair share, and now he had to worry about getting a say at all.

As Gendry left the library and headed to his Business Studies lecture, he realised the thing he found more frustrating than Arya’s competitiveness and ‘_fuck-off’_ attitude was how turned on he was by her competitiveness and ‘_fuck-off’ _attitude. She was a sharp, self-assured firework in a tiny, sexy package, and it was driving Gendry crazy. How was he supposed to concentrate on knocking her down a peg, when he couldn’t stop admiring how bloody good she looked?

**—:—:—**

A week later, Arya found that Sansa’s warning was playing on her mind. She and Gendry had been assigned the project a while ago now, and they still hadn’t chosen the king they were going to study. Arya decided they couldn’t delay any longer, so she sent Gendry a message.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _We need to decide on a bloody king so we can get to work. When can you meet?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Yeah, I know. I’m free this evening if you want to discuss it?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Can’t do Tuesdays remember? Tomorrow morning?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Sorry, forgot. Got a lecture in the morning. Tomorrow afternoon?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _That’ll work. Meet you in the library around 2._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _See you then._ **

She was tempted to reply with a sarcastic ‘_can’t wait_’, but she thought she’d better not antagonise him too much. She still had to work with Gendry, even if he was a stupid, stubborn jerk.

—

“Before we begin,” Arya announced as she arrived at the table where Gendry had set up, “I’d just like to point out that my father is not doing this assignment for me. I knew what to ask him for. All he did was retrieve it and send me a copy. _I_ did the work. I’m also the one who has annotated the records, and made a list of important historical connections for us to follow up on. I know how to work hard.” Arya punctuated her defence by slamming her textbook on the table as she sat down. She took a deep breath and looked to Gendry, readying herself for yet another disagreement.

“You’re right,” he said.

“Wait, what?” Arya was stunned. Gendry huffed out a breath and continued.

“You’re right, and I’m sorry. I was a dick to suggest you weren’t doing the work yourself. And you were right about Aegon being the lazy choice. Bran was a better king, and this source is incredible. Thanks for finding this for us.”

Sansa would have been proud of the way Arya managed to tamp down any instinct to say ‘_I told you so_’, and instead graciously accepted his apology with a small nod.

“Why don’t we go through the source material we have, and decide who’ll analyse each part?” she asked. Gendry agreed, and they set to work dividing the material. When they were done, Arya felt relieved to have at least made some progress, but now that her mind was focused on the project, she found herself wanting to sink her teeth into it.

“I’ve got some time before I need to head to the pub for work, so I’m gonna stay and work on this for a while,” said Gendry, seemingly reading her mind. “Do you have to be anywhere?”

“I don’t have anything 'til my class at 5,” she replied.

“Great.”

An awkward silence came over them as they tried to work out where to start. Feeling increasingly uncomfortable as the minutes wore on, Arya thought she might as well try to make an effort with Gendry. She should get to know him a bit, since they’d be spending so much time together.

“So what other classes do you have to fit this in around?” she asked. Gendry looked relieved that she’d broken the tension.

“Uhh… Business Studies, and I’m doing a Metalworking course this semester, for something different.”

“Huh. Is that where you were coming from the other day, when you were all dirty?”

“Yeah. Bit hard to stay neat and tidy when you’re doing something practical,” he said sharply.

“Oh yeah. Because metalworking has so many _practical_ applications in the modern– Oh wait, it's not the middle ages.”

Gendry eyed her for a moment, looking annoyed at her snark, but not really seeming surprised by it. Making an effort wasn’t her strong suit even when she liked someone well enough, but with Gendry she didn’t seem to be able to stop herself from making her biting comments. Sometimes she wondered how she had ever managed to make any friends. When Gendry looked back at his notes, she’d expected the conversation to end there. She was surprised when he spoke again.

“What else are you taking, then?” He sounded resigned, like he was only returning the question because it was the polite thing to do.

“I’m taking Anthropology and Essosi Lit. Plus I… do some other stuff.” She’d nearly been tempted to tell him about her extra-curricular activities, but she found she didn’t want to risk starting another stupid bickering match between them. Not over something that was actually important to her.

“That why you can’t do Tuesday nights?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Busy doing Super Secret Tuesday Night stuff?”

“Yep.”

“Okay.” Gendry sighed and returned to his notes, clearly expecting her to give in and tell him.

“I don’t have to tell you everything I do. It’s not like we’re friends.”

“Definitely not friends,” he muttered.

“_Rude,_” she said under her breath. If he heard her, he didn’t show it.

For the rest of their time studying, they stuck to only discussing the project. Arya realised she was going to have to work hard to be less combative with Gendry if they were going to make it through the rest of the semester without killing each other.

**—:—:—**

Over the course of the next week, Gendry had started to realise just how much work was going to be involved in this assignment. He was feeling daunted by the scale of it all, and felt the need to make some more progress as quickly as they could, so he texted Arya to arrange another study session.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _The amount of work we have to do is insane. Are you free today or tomorrow to work on it? I want to get some more research done as soon as we can._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _How about right now? I agree, I need to get something done to reassure myself that we can handle this thing!_ **

Gendry was relieved to know she was feeling the same way.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Already headed to the library. See you there?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _See you there._ **

—

Gendry sighed in relief when Arya arrived a short time after he’d sat down. Forgoing a greeting, he shared his concerns.

“I keep thinking I’ve got a handle on this, and then I think of _another_ thing we have to cover. I’m going around in circles!”

“We’re definitely not the only ones who are struggling,” Arya reassured him. “Alys told me she’s thinking of just dropping the course, and taking an extra subject next semester, as if that would be any easier,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Gendry was pleased that Arya seemed to be in a slightly better mood than the last time he’d seen her. He listened to her talk animatedly, and realised she had a very engaging personality when she didn’t shroud her words in a thick layer of sarcasm.

“Ned Dayne’s partner hasn’t even read through the requirements yet,” she continued. “I’m just saying, you could have been stuck with someone like that, instead of the hard-working and effortlessly charming partner you got.” Obviously she hadn’t left her self-confidence behind with her snark, but it was certainly an improvement.

“Who’s Ned Dayne?” he asked, pointedly ignoring her last statement.

“Gendry, he’s been in our class all semester,” she answered, sounding irked by his ignorance. “Taller than me, shorter than you, blonde hair that he’s always brushing out of his face. He’s the one that asks a million questions.”

“Oh, him. He doesn’t strike me as someone who has a firm grip on the subject material.”

“I think he does pretty well,” she said, “although whether he does well enough to carry a lazy partner through this assignment, I’m not so sure.”

“Yeah, thank God I don’t have to carry you. Look at you, you must weigh a ton. How would I ever manage to drag your dead weight around?” Arya threw a highlighter at his head with alarmingly accurate aim, although she seemed to be amused rather than angry at his joking.

“Seriously, though,” she said after a moment, “my oldest brother had to do this assignment when he took History. I was too young to be paying attention, but my sister said it took a huge toll on him. He and his partner didn’t stay on top of it like they should have. We can’t make that mistake.” Her tone surprised Gendry, and he could tell she had taken her siblings’ warning to heart. He nodded to show he was heeding the advice. “We’re stuck with each other for the duration of this thing. We’re going to need to have each other’s backs.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. I have to get at least a B on this, although an A-minus would take some of the pressure off.” He decided he might as well be open about it. She was right, they would have to be able to count on each other, and a bit of trust between them would go a long way.

“I think that’s doable. I’m willing to work hard to get there. And I know you’re serious about it, since you so helpfully mentioned it in our first conversation,” Arya said with an arched eyebrow. Gendry grimaced at the awkward memory.

“I’m sure we’ll still get on each other’s nerves. I’m not expecting to become best friends or anything, but hopefully it’ll get easier. Certainly easier than it will be for Ned what’s-his-name and his partner.”

Arya let out an actual, honest-to-God giggle, and he tried not to show his surprise at the sweet sound coming from her usually salty lips.

As they settled into their work, Gendry felt like they might be able to make this partnership work after all. Though he had found Arya to be inconveniently attractive when she was trying to win an argument, he was dismayed to find that her personality was even more magnetic when she wasn’t being quite so annoying. And he really didn't know what to do about that.

**—:—:—**

When Arya had mentioned Ned Dayne, Gendry hadn’t even been able to put a face to the name, but during their Friday afternoon class, he became acutely aware of the boy.

Arya had rushed in just as the class was starting, looking flustered and out of breath. She wore a tight-fitting grey skirt over her intentionally ripped stockings, most likely an adjustment she had made herself. Most of her pony tail had fallen loose around her face, and he thought she might have been wearing her jacket inside out. The thought occurred to Gendry that she looked like someone who had been in a rush to get dressed after sex. He wondered if she’d been with someone and lost track of time, but when his jeans started to feel uncomfortably tight, he pushed the image from his mind.

The only available seat had been the one next to Ned Dayne. When he saw the way Ned looked at Arya, he suspected this may not have been an accident. They were sitting just in front of Gendry, making it impossible for him to ignore their interactions. Throughout the class, Ned kept leaning in close to whisper comments to Arya. She would acknowledge him with a nod, or a little smile, but wouldn’t say much. The one time she murmured something in his ear, Gendry saw Ned tense up at her closeness, and then give her a stupidly big smile. He looked like she’d made his fucking day.

Ned seemed bewitched by Arya, and Gendry could understand it. She had a frenetic energy, but she carried herself with a collectedness that he couldn’t ever remember seeing in someone so young. Her sly smiles were a contrast to the surprisingly girlish giggles that occasionally accompanied them, though Ned had yet to succeed in winning one from her.

As the class wore on Arya’s attention wandered, and she started mindlessly twirling her hair around her pen. Gendry couldn’t help but smile when the clip of the pen got tangled up, and she hastily worked to unravel it, smoothing her hair out before anyone noticed.

Before anyone _else_ noticed.

Gendry vaguely registered Professor Lannister instructing them to open their textbooks. As Arya reached for hers, her elbow knocked over her water bottle. It toppled to the floor, startling Ned, and when she reached to pick it up, Gendry saw Ned blatantly eyeing the curve of Arya’s ass, prominently displayed in her fitted skirt. He felt a sudden desire to break something, although he supposed he wasn’t in a strong position to object, since he’d been admiring her ass, too.

Professor Lannister eventually dismissed the class with a reminder to get stuck in to their assignments, before time got away from them. Gendry looked down at the blank note paper in front of him and realised he hadn’t written a single thing down during the lesson. He hoped he hadn’t missed anything important, though after watching everything that had transpired, he certainly couldn’t say he hadn’t learned anything. As he watched Arya walk out, with Ned Dayne still lingering beside her, he knew he wouldn’t forget the boy’s name again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time:  
Sansa tries to help Arya manage her rage, and Arya starts to see Gendry differently.


	3. Grievous Bodily Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sansa tries to help Arya manage her rage, and Arya starts to see Gendry differently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
Gendry and Arya have found a way to work together to make it through the assignment. Gendry learnt exactly who Ned Dayne is.

****“Can you believe it, that bitch in my Anthro class stole my ethnography!” Arya yelled as she stormed into the apartment, and flung herself onto the couch. Sansa came out of her room and looked as though she had lots of questions, but wasn’t sure where to start. Arya saved her the trouble.

“That absolute cow! Everyone knew I was going to study the way online fan communities form around fictional web series on YouTube. But this afternoon _Jeyne_–” Arya spat out the name, “– informed Professor Sand that she would be studying the “_diasporadic communities_” that are formed in association with “_new media episodic narratives_”. Pretentious motherfucker. Who even spells ‘Jeyne’ like that anyway?”

“Well I suspect her parents are probably to blame for the spelling,” Sansa said, as she came to sit beside Arya, “but she does sound like a bit of a motherfucker.”

It usually delighted Arya when graceful, composed Sansa dropped a swear word so casually, but today she had let the rage fill her up, leaving no room for any other emotion.

“I’m gonna crush the bitch. I’ll stick with what I was going to do, and do it ten thousand, million times better than her,” she declared. “And then I’ll push her down the stairs.”

“Arya…”

“No, Sansa! Don’t _‘Arya’_ me,” she whined. “It’s infuriating, and unfair, and she needs to suffer.” Surely Sansa must see than an injustice had been perpetrated against her.

"Just be careful Arya. You tend to get yourself into things and then refuse to get yourself out of them, just to spite everyone."

“That– I– I don’t–” spluttered Arya, feeling indignant.

"You do, Arya.

"When have I ever–”

"You got yourself beaten up by that scrawny bitch who said you were unconvincing in the school play. How does a comment like that turn into a fist fight behind the gym?!" 

"I said I could give her a convincing black eye,” Arya said with a smirk.

"And yet you were the one who came home with bruises."

"I convinced her in the end."

"Arya!"

"I don't see how any of that's relevant." Arya crossed her arms stubbornly.

"You let a stupid little insult fester and grow into a huge conflict. You got so wound up by it all that you couldn't let it go, and before you even realised how deep you were in it, it was bigger than you could control."

"Okay, but that was just stupid high school stuff. I've out-grown that."

"Arya, last summer you were so put-out that Theon and Robb beat you in a swimming race that you started spending an hour in the pool every morning."

"I still don't understand how Theon kept beating me,” said Arya, irritated at the memory.

"Because his family comes from the Iron Islands. He grew up around the water. He swam at the junior world championships, for fuck’s sake!” Sansa sighed and tried to regain her composure. "Arya, sometimes people are better than you at things, or they're jealous and mean, or they rub you the wrong way, and rather than accepting that, you seem to fixate on it, and spend all of your energy and time on it until you get yourself into a mess you can’t get out of."

Arya thought about her sister's words and had to admit she could see the truth in them.

"You're right, I do get like that, but... I just... How can I change that when it's just who I am?"

"You don't have to change it,” Sansa said gently, “you just have to be aware of it, and try not to let it get the better of you.” Arya let out a frustrated groan.

“Fi-i-ine. I’ll hold off pushing her down the stairs. For now.”

“And?”

“And I’ll come up with another ethnography, and she can shove her diasporadic communities up her ass.”

“Yes she can.” Sansa placed a kiss on her temple.

“Luckily I’m meeting Shireen at the gym in a while, so I can inflict my rage on the equipment.”

“Just as long as you don’t inflict it on Shireen.”

“I’ll do my best to contain the fallout,” Arya laughed.

  
—  


Arya always felt better after a workout. After a long run on the treadmill, and a boxing session that Shireen had bravely agreed to, she found that she didn’t have the energy to keep feeling angry. Unfortunately, she didn’t really have the energy to do anything, so when she got home she settled herself on the couch to watch a movie and forget her awful day.

Early in the evening, halfway through a very predictable romantic comedy, she received a text from Gendry.

** _Gendry  
_****_I’m confused about the timeline of the changes to Royal Court customs. Got a spare hour to go over it?_**

Arya groaned, knowing she couldn’t possibly manage it after the day she’d had.

** _Arya  
_****_I’ve had a wretched day, dealing with a back-stabbing bitch, and plots to inflict grievous bodily harm. There’s no way I’d be able to concentrate on it tonight._**

** _Gendry  
_****_Sorry to hear it. Should I be worried about someone trying to cause you grievous bodily harm???_**

** _Arya  
_****_No, no. I was the one plotting to inflict grievous bodily harm upon the back-stabbing bitch. I’ve since managed to redirect my anger into an intense workout._**

** _Gendry  
_****_That’s a relief. Do you have anyone to maim on Thursday morning?_**

** _Arya  
_****_Not yet, but I can’t rule it out._**

** _Gendry  
_****_How about we plan to meet at 10? If you’re late, I’ll just assume you had to take out a hit on someone._**

** _Arya  
_****_What am I, some helpless damsel? I perform my own assassinations._**

** _Gendry  
_****_My mistake. _**

** _Arya  
_****_I’ll be there at 10._**

** _Gendry  
_****_A murder-free morning it is then. Good choice._**

Arya rolled her eyes at him and returned to her movie. She’d never been a huge fan of romantic comedies. She always thought it was unrealistic that the would-be couple couldn’t see they were meant to be together, and kept awkwardly avoiding their obvious attraction.

_People are idiots_, she thought. 

  
—  


Arya walked into the library a little after 10 on Thursday morning and spotted Gendry at one of the back tables. She stopped short at the sight of him, taken aback by how good he looked. Had he always been that attractive? 

Obviously she’d noticed he was good-looking when they met, but she supposed she’d been so distracted by his objectionable attitude and his ever-present frown that she hadn’t realised just how gorgeous he was. At first, all their interactions had centred around Arya’s efforts to convince Gendry that her ideas were better, a challenge she’d been quite happy to accept. But she wondered how she had never noticed the tone of his muscles hiding under his clothes, or the way his arm flexed as he ran his hand through his hair. Seeing him now, wearing a fitted blue t-shirt that brought out the colour of his eyes, she couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate the sight. Now that his stubbornness had somewhat abated, and they’d found a way to try and get along, she was starting to wonder if his undeniably fine appearance was going to become the bigger distraction.

She was shaken from her wandering thoughts when he looked up and spotted her. She quickly made her way over to the table, and he offered her a pleasant smile in greeting as she set her bag down. Apparently she’d also failed to appreciate how nice his smile was, though she supposed she hadn’t seen many from him. Arya chastised herself for being so caught up by these revelations, and tried to bring her attention back to what they needed to get done today.

  
—

When she’d helped Gendry clarify his questions about the Royal Court, Arya tried to focus on writing up some notes about King Bran’s relationships with the great Houses of Westeros, but she found her gaze drifting back to Gendry more frequently than she would have liked. 

“What is it?” Gendry eventually asked her, though he didn’t look up from his computer.

“Hmm?”

“Why are you staring at me?”

“I– I wasn’t,” she lied hastily, annoyed at herself for being caught and annoyed at him for catching her. Gendry sighed, obviously not believing her.

“Whatever,” he muttered. Arya pointedly looked at her textbook and tried to focus on the chapter in front of her, but she couldn’t seem to get her mind off Gendry.

Why was his face still so appealing, despite the furrow that always seemed to return to his brow? And why did the blue of his eyes seem brighter when he was irritated at something? For someone who seemed to be perpetually in a bad mood, he still held an allure that Arya was drawn in by, try as she might to escape the pull.

In the past, finding someone attractive hadn’t really been a big deal for Arya. She’d never giggled with her friends about boys the way Sansa had, or found herself tongue-tied like Jon. There had been a few boys in high school who had caught her attention. One seemed to like her back, though neither of them did anything about it. Another had made out with her at a party and proven to be a rather disappointing kisser, so she hadn’t given him the chance to try again. Later on she’d fooled around with a few clumsy high school boys, but the only intense attraction she’d felt had been towards one of the boys on her fencing team. 

In their last year of high school, the flirty looks turned to flirty words, and eventually resulted in some touching and groping, and an awkward attempt at a blowjob by Arya that had done the trick in _record time_. And when school was done, he never got in touch again, and she’d quickly moved on to thinking about starting university.

Now, here she was with very little experience to speak of, and a physical attraction to Gendry that was proving difficult to ignore. She’d never had to work so closely with someone she found so distracting, or been in a situation where she couldn’t just avoid them until it passed. She found she didn’t like her current predicament.

“Have you found anything about the financial impacts of the war?” Gendry asked. Arya stared at him dumbly for a second, trying to set her previous thoughts aside, and catch up to what he’d said.

“Uhhh...” she faltered. He just sat there, waiting. “Uh, not much, no. I’ll keep looking.” Gendry nodded and Arya pinched her leg under the table, trying to make herself focus.

“In fact,” she decided, “I’ll go have a look in the History section to see if I can find anything. No point working in a library if we don’t make use of it.”

“Oh, yeah, great idea.” She paused at his encouraging words, and when she dared to look at him, his soft smile made her stomach flip. She grabbed a notebook and pen, and set off for the back of the library, very pleased to have an excuse to be further away from him.

Arya scanned the history section for anything vaguely relevant. She found only one book that was tenuously related, but she took it. She couldn’t face going back over there just yet, so she turned to sit on the floor between the bookshelves with her back against the wall.

She flipped through the pages and jotted down a few points, and when she couldn’t find anything else worth noting, she started drawing up an outline of how they might structure their responses. Her efforts to clear her head of Gendry were working quite well, until the man in question came to stand in front of her, looking down at her curiously.

_God, he’s so tall._

“Thought you must have found a goldmine of information,” he said. His voice held a touch of amusement at seeing her on the floor.

“Oh, er… not really. I just sort of landed here,” she said sheepishly.

“I’ve got to head off, but I’ve printed out some stuff that I thought might help with your section. Maybe you could annotate it, and we can figure out where to fit it in?”

“Oh, sure. I’ll do it tonight.” She moved to get up, but stopped when Gendry held out his hand. Ignoring the shiver she felt at the contact, she took his hand and let him pull her up. He must have misjudged just how small she was, because he pulled too hard and she over-balanced, ending up pressed against his infuriatingly solid body. His hands went to her sides to steady her and she jumped slightly when he grabbed a ticklish spot.

“Sorry,” he said quietly.

“No, fine. All good.” She pulled back from him in a hurry. “I’ll see you later.” Arya felt herself blush, and tried to calm herself as she walked back to get her things.

As she packed up her belongings, she decided she had to do something to resolve this growing itch. She would go for a run this afternoon and get some fresh air. Then she’d go home, have a cold shower, and if all else failed, she’d give herself an orgasm to try and clear her head. She’d almost certainly feel weird and dirty about it the next time she saw him, but at least she would be able to settle down and focus on what they had to do.

  
—

Later that afternoon, as Arya was touching herself in the shower, remembering the way his brow furrowed over his blue eyes, and the feel of his firm body against hers, she started to worry that this project would become hard work of a whole different kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time:  
Arya shows up at the pub where Gendry works, and she meets his friends.


	4. Silly Bobby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya shows up to the pub where Gendry works, and she meets his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so the story of the Silly Bobby name doesn’t make canonical sense, I know, but it will be clarified later so don’t @ me. Also, there is a brief mention of campus sexual assault. It may sound flippant here, but it will be addressed more seriously in later chapters.
> 
> Previously:  
Sansa tried to help Arya manage her rage, and Arya started to find Gendry very distracting.

Gendry had just started his shift at the pub on Thursday night when he received a text message.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Where are you? I need to tell you how stupid these notes are, and I’d much prefer to do it in person._ **

He rolled his eyes and typed out a reply.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Well I’m working tonight, so as fun as that sounds, you’ll just have to wait._ **

  
****

Less than an hour later, he was startled by Arya calling his name.

“_Gendry!_” She didn’t sound happy. “This is all about how shitty life was for women back then, and how violently men treated them. Why would we want to include any of that? How is that relevant?” she asked, waving around the pages he’d given her earlier that day. Gendry frowned at the outburst, feeling more than a little surprised at the fact that Arya had been so impatient to yell at him that she had tracked him down at work.

“Did you read past the first page?” he asked curtly.

“I got the gist,” she snapped.

“Well, if you’d made it to the second part you would have seen the information about how much things changed during Bran’s rule. Women could inherit, and great Houses could be led by ladies, not just lords. Women even sat on the Small Council, and helped choose Bran’s successor when he died. I think it’s an important aspect of his reign for us to look at, don’t you?”

“Oh. Well… Yeah. That’s good.” He looked at her, waiting. “I’m _sorry_,” she finally conceded. Gendry gave her an exasperated smile. He supposed he’d have to get used to this if he was going to spend the next few months working with this infuriating woman.

“What’ll it be then?” he asked, in an effort to move on.

“Oh. I didn’t grab my wallet,” Arya said, her shoulders slumping in disappointment.

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“Oh, um… a rum and Coke, then? Thanks.” She took a seat on one of the bar stools as he made the drink.

“I actually found some more sources about how the lifestyles of women changed during that time,” Gendry told her, setting the glass down in front of her.

“I’m free Monday night if you want to work on the assignment some more then? After seven?” she asked.

“Perfect, that way I can make some notes on it over the weekend.”

“You weren’t kidding when you said you were gonna work hard on this,” she said with a wry smile.

“Oh, Gendry’s a very diligent worker,” Hot Pie chimed in as he came over from the other end of the bar. “Never misses a shift. Always keeps the bar spotless. Gets the most tips, too, although that’s just ‘cause the ladies like ‘im.”

“This is Hot Pie,” introduced Gendry. “Best to just ignore him. The rest of us do.”

“Why are you called Hot Pie?” Arya asked.

“I’ve always liked cookin’, but bakin’s what I really love. Pies are my specialty.”

“That, and the fact that he won’t tell anyone his real name,” added Gendry.

“That’s between me, my mother, and regrettably, the university enrolment office.” Arya laughed warmly at Hot Pie and took another sip of her drink.

“Aw, man. Pod’s starting his set. Arya won’t be interested in talking to us now, Gen. In a minute she’ll be besotted with his magic… voice.” Gendry was relieved that Hot Pie had stopped himself in time. He hated to think how he would have tried to explain a comment about Pod’s magic cock to Arya.

Pod started to play an acoustic cover of an 80’s song, before the requests for ‘Thinking Out Loud’ inevitably started. After listening for a moment, Arya turned back to him with a happy smile.

“He’s really good!”

“He is,” Gendry agreed, resting his elbows on the top of the bar, and leaning in so that she would be able to hear him over the music. “And it’s true, the ladies do seem to love him.” He gestured at all the young women giving Pod their undivided attention, which amused Arya.

They listened to Pod continue his set, and Gendry watched as she started mouthing along to some of the songs. He found he was glad she’d stopped by, even if it had been to give him a hard time. It was nice to see what she was like outside of working on the project. He noticed she’d finished her drink, so he made her another one, and she gave him a grateful smile as she sipped it.

—

Later, when Pod had wrapped up his set and come up to the bar, Gendry properly introduced him to Arya. The four of them chatted for a while, with Gendry occasionally excusing himself to make drinks. He went to go and collect up some empty glasses from the tables, and when he returned to the bar, Arya was ending a phone call.

“Okay, I’ll see you in a few. Bye.” She put her phone away then turned back to the group. “My friend Shireen is gonna stop by with some notes from a class I missed.”

“The more the merrier!” Hot Pie proclaimed.

“So tell me,” Arya asked, as they continued their conversation, “where does the name ‘Silly Bobby’ come from?” Gendry and Pod both groaned, while Hot Pie beamed at her.

“Go on, then,” Gendry relented when Hot Pie looked to him for permission to tell the story he enjoyed so much.

“Well,” Hot Pie began eagerly, “it’s named after an old King o’ Westeros, King Robert, but everyone called ‘im Bobby. He entered a joustin’ tourney and was beaten by a handsome young knight. When the knight won, he presented a crown of blue roses – like the one on the sign out front – to a beautiful young woman, proclaiming her the Queen of Love an’ Beauty. Unfortunately, the young woman was the object of King Robert's affections. Bobby declared war with the knight’s House, and threw the Seven Kingdoms into chaos, all because he was jealous that someone stole his girl.”

Gendry, Hot Pie and Pod all looked to each other with stupid grins on their faces. They shook their heads as they humorously lamented:

“Silly Bobby!”

Many of the regular patrons overheard them, and joined in with their own cries of _‘Silly Bobby!’_ Arya let out a surprised giggle at the tradition, and Gendry found himself laughing with her.

—

A short time later, when the pub had gotten more crowded, and the drinks were flowing quickly, Arya’s friend arrived, though she was dressed far too nicely for a place like the Silly Bobby.

“Shireen! You look gorgeous!” Arya flung her arms around her friend in a warm hug.

“Really?” the girl asked nervously. “Your sister was kind enough to help me with my hair, too. She’s so much better at this stuff than me.”

“Or me,” agreed Arya, though Gendry was surprised. He’d always thought she looked stunning, and with the confidence she radiated, surely she must know it. “She was so right about that top, too. Hugh won’t know what hit him.” Arya smiled kindly at Shireen, who seemed to suddenly notice the three young men watching their interaction.

“Umm…”

“Oh! Shireen, this is Gendry, Hot Pie, and Pod. Everyone, this is Shireen,” Arya said.

“You do look lovely,” said Pod, oozing charm. “Whoever Hugh is, he’s a lucky guy.”

“_So fucking smooth_,” Hot Pie whispered to Gendry, but Shireen was beaming at the compliment.

“Well, here are the notes from yesterday,” Shireen said, handing Arya a notebook. "I’d better get going. Wish me luck!” Shireen said, and they all obliged. She turned to give Arya another hug. “You weren’t kidding!” Gendry overheard her whisper in Arya’s ear, and he noticed the colour rise in her cheeks. He wasn’t sure what Shireen had meant, but he was very curious to know what it was that could make Arya blush like that.

—

Gendry couldn’t remember having a more enjoyable night at work. Pod had done a great second set, with only two Ed Sheeran requests. Hot Pie had cooked them up some of the best fries he’d ever had, thanks to a new seasoning he’d wanted to try. And Arya…

She had been happily chatting away with his friends all night, making them laugh and enjoying their dumb stories. Gendry had been happy to see her fit in so well with their group, and thought he wouldn’t mind if it became a regular thing. Although, he had been somewhat jealous that she’d warmed up to them so quickly. Was it easier for her to get on with them without the pressure of an assignment to work on? Or was it just Gendry that had seemed to rub her the wrong way? He didn’t fancy dwelling on it, so he tried to return his attention to the conversation. Hot Pie had just finished his review of the top five pie vendors in Kings Landing when Arya’s friend returned to the pub.

“Shireen?” Arya said in a worried tone. “The date’s over already?”

“Yes,” Shireen said sadly. “Unfortunately there was crab meat in the springs rolls, and Hugh is horribly allergic to shellfish. But until then it had been wonderful!” she said with a bright smile.

“Oh! Well, that’s good. So you’re gonna go out again?” Shireen nodded excitedly, then clutched Arya’s arm.

“Do you know what he said – or rather, wheezed – as they put him in the ambulance?”

“Oh, er… what?” Arya asked, looking both amused and horrified.

“He said ‘_you take my breath away’_. Isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard?” Shireen said, looking dreamy. Gendry had to bite his lip so he wouldn’t laugh at the absurdity of the situation, though he had to admit, it was quite sweet.

“It really is,” Arya said warmly. Pod and Hot Pie nodded in agreement.

“A breathtaking girl like that deserves a drink, Gen,” said Pod. Gendry set to making her something pink and fruity, as well as another rum and Coke for Arya.

“I really like your new friends, Arya,” giggled Shireen, as she blushed at the comment.

Arya laughed, Pod and Hot Pie high-fived, and Gendry wondered if he and Arya might actually manage to become friends. He felt warm at the idea.

The five of them were having a nice time, chatting and laughing as the pub gradually became quieter, until another group came in.

“Hey Bella,” Gendry called out when he recognised the group. “Had a debate tonight?”

“Hey, handsome! Yeah we wiped the floor with them,” Bella said, and the rest of the team cheered loudly as they settled into a corner table. She leaned forward against the bar, no doubt in an effort to show off the low cut of her top. “We’re here to celebrate,” she said, in an unnecessarily sultry tone.

“The usual?”

“Six screwdrivers, ‘cause we nailed it and we want–”

“To get hammered, I know.” Gendry rolled his eyes at the predictable response. “You know that doesn’t make sense, right?”

“It will after a few drinks,” Bella said with a laugh.

Gendry made the round of drinks and helped Bella carry them over to the table. When he returned to the bar, Arya was giving him a funny look.

“What?” he asked.

“So, they flirt with you and you give them stronger drinks? Is that how it works?”

“How what works?”

“That girl. You poured more than a shot in those drinks.”

“That group are regulars, and they're good tippers. We're allowed to be generous with them occasionally.”

“Right, so it’s the money, not the flirting.”

“_Arya_…” Shireen whispered in a warning tone. Gendry huffed out a tired sigh.

“What are you on about?” he asked.

“I’m just trying to work out your system,” she said, feigning ignorance. “Seems to me that you make them extra strong drinks, let them all get drunk, take their generous tips, and then when they’ve had too much, you send them off to… what? Become targets of sexual assault?”

“Maybe _you’ve_ had too much? Hmm?” Gendry took her nearly empty glass off the bar and replaced it with water, but Arya ignored it.

“Wow, looks like I’ve hit a nerve. You know what they say, Gendry. If you’re not part of the problem, you’re part of the solution.” He furrowed his brow at her muddled words. “No, wait. The opposite. You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t Arya, because it sounds like you’re saying I’m to blame for all campus sexual assault, and I don’t really think that’s fair.” How had he wound up in the middle of another stupid argument with her? Things had seemed to be going so well. Too well, apparently.

“Just calling it like I see it,” she shrugged.

“Seems to me you’re just pissed off about God knows what, and looking for an argument.”

“If I wasn't pissed off before, I am now.” Gendry rolled his eyes at her.

“Well then how about you piss off somewhere else,” he said, hearing the exasperation in his voice. “'Cause I'm not crazy about people coming in here, and saying dumb shit, and picking a fight just for something to do.”

“Fine. We’ll leave if you’re going to be such a stupid bull about it. C’mon Shireen.” Shireen shot Gendry an apologetic look as she grabbed her bag and followed after her friend. “You’d be way hotter if you weren’t so damn grumpy all the time,” Arya muttered as she stormed out.

As Gendry finished serving the last few customers, he was trying to decide if he should have been more annoyed at her for stirring up trouble, or felt more uncomfortable at the way that this argument had seemed more personal than any previous ones, but as he wiped down the tables and closed up the bar, all he was able to focus on was the fact that Arya Stark might actually find him attractive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the feedback I’ve received! It’s been incredibly helpful and encouraging, so please keep the comments coming. I have almost finished this story and I’m updating often. Don’t forget you can subscribe to the story to be notified when new chapters are posted. 
> 
> Next Time:  
Arya keeps pushing Gendry until they reach a turning point they can’t come back from.


	5. The Archive Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya keeps pushing Gendry until they reach a turning point they can’t come back from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that there are mentions of campus sexual assault. Although it may come across like a joke, it will be addressed more seriously in later chapters.
> 
> Previously:  
Arya showed up to the pub where Gendry works, and she met his friends. It was great, until she said something she probably shouldn’t have.

Arya had a terrible night’s sleep. She knew why, of course. She’d felt like an idiot as soon as the accusations came tumbling out of her mouth, but once they were set loose, she didn’t know how to find her way back.

She’d been having such a nice time, too. Much nicer than she’d expected she would when she had decided to go and yell at him at the beginning of the night. She felt embarrassed even thinking about it now. She’d been so sure that he’d been the stupid one for giving her useless information, that she hadn’t bothered to read it all to see how helpful it really was. Finding out he was kind of smart as well as unreasonably attractive wasn’t doing anything to settle the churning in her stomach.

Despite her coming to his work to harass him – _like some kind of straight-up nutcase,_ she thought – he’d been surprisingly nice to her. _And_ he’d given her free drinks. _And_ his friends had been so happy to meet her and Shireen. It had been the most fun she’d had since the semester began.

And then that girl walked in and suddenly Arya had just…

_God, I’m stupid_, she thought. _Bitchy and stupid._

She wasn’t sure if it had been the ample cleavage the girl had displayed, or if it was the easy, confident way she’d flirted with Gendry from the moment she’d walked in, but something about her had set Arya off. Although if she was being honest, it probably had less to do with the girl and more to do with the thoughts she’d been having about Gendry just a few hours earlier. The realisation that she clearly wasn’t the only one to notice his good looks, and the fact that any number of beautiful women could wander along and catch his eye, made her feel like a fool. Sansa’s childhood taunt of ‘Arya Horseface’ sprung to mind before she could stop it.

Thankfully, Arya was saved from spiralling too deep into her own self-doubt by a call from Shireen.

“Oh my God,” Arya moaned in place of a ‘_hello_’.

“Babe, what happened?!” Shireen asked with a laugh. “We were having such a nice time and then you just… I don’t even know! It was like you went full Arya on him, and full Arya is only funny when the other person knows you’re not really serious.”

“I know! I guess I just decided it would be easier to be a sarcastic bitch than acknowledge any actual human emotions. Although, if I try hard enough I’m sure I can find a way to make this his fault.”

“He can’t help being a snack, Arya, so if that’s your defence it needs work. Seriously though, you weren’t kidding. When you mentioned your hot-slash-annoying assignment partner–”

“Not helping to lessen my embarrassment, Shireen.”

“Right, sorry. Honestly, you shouldn’t worry about it. He didn’t really seem all that bothered by your… what are we calling it? Your bout of jealousy-induced madness?”

“We’re definitely not calling it that,” declared Arya.

“Well anyway, it seems like you’ve found someone who can well and truly handle your bullshit. They seemed like really nice people, Arya. They could be good for you. You just have to try not to screw it up before they have the chance.”

“Yeah, I know. Sansa already has me working on suppressing all of my worst instincts, so I’ll go ahead and add that to the list.”

“Arya, I didn’t mean to–”

“No, it’s fine. And you’re right, I think he and I got off on the wrong foot. It would be helpful to be friendlier, at least while we’re doing the project together. I really have been trying, but _God_, I wish it wasn’t so satisfying to push his buttons!”

“Oh Arya…”

“What?”

“I… Nothing,” Shireen said with a sigh. “I gotta go to a lecture. Good luck, sweetie.” There was something in her tone that Arya couldn’t quite decipher.

“Later, Shireen.”

Shireen was right. She’d have to apologise, and try to find her way back to the almost-friendship she and Gendry had been starting to develop. That seemed like the easiest way to get through this assignment, then she wouldn’t have to see those stupid blue eyes of his any more. 

Arya wasn’t sure why that thought left her uneasy, rather than reassured. She decided to spend the weekend getting ahead on her reading for Essosi Lit, and avoid thinking about Gendry and his blue eyes entirely.

  
—:—:—

  
Arya walked up to the table where Gendry had set up his research for their evening of studying. He watched as she plopped her bag down, then plopped herself down, then let out a deep sigh.

“I shouldn’t have implied that you are the sole catalyst for every campus sexual assault,” she said.

“Yeah, that was a bit unfair,” he answered, with barely veiled sarcasm.

“Well, I’m sorry.” He could tell her apology was genuine, but he was surprised to hear her admit it. She didn't strike him as the type of person who conceded their faults easily.

It wasn’t like he’d actually been offended by what she’d said. Besides, he knew Arya enjoyed a good argument. She could probably give Bella a run for her money when it came to debating, though he wouldn’t dare say it after the way he’d seen Arya look at her the other night. He still wasn’t sure what that look had been about, and he didn’t dare hope it might have been because she was jealous. Gendry gave an appreciative nod at her apology, and tried to find a way back to their usual banter.

“You know, you shouldn’t insult people that are bigger than you,” he said with a teasing smile.

“Then I wouldn’t get to insult anyone.” She started unpacking her notebooks from her bag, then paused. “I stand by what I said about you being grumpy though. You really are.”

“Can’t help it. It’s just how I am.”

“Rubbish. I saw what you were like around your friends. You know how to have a good time when you want to.”

“Then, I guess it’s the effect you have on me.”

“_Pfft,_ no. I’m a delight. Must be something else,” she decided. Gendry just shook his head at her in exasperation. “What could it be that makes you so bloody bull-headed?”

“Would you just do some work?”

“Fine,” she sighed.

_God, she could be frustrating_, he thought. Maybe she wasn’t the cause of his tendency towards grumpiness, but she certainly did have an effect on him, that much was true. Gendry had to keep reminding himself not to stare as she chewed on the end of her pen, a sight which was just as maddening as any snarky comment she could have made.

—

Several hours and many pages of useful notes later, Arya was starting to get restless. Gendry noticed a glint in her eyes that made him suspect she was about to make him her source of amusement.

“So how’d you get that job at the Silly Bobby?” she asked. Gendry sighed knowing that any hope of serious study was quickly fading. He tried to keep his answer brief as he continued making notes.

“Walked in, asked if they were hiring, they were, I got the job.”

“Wow. That easy, huh?” He didn’t feel the need to respond. “I think I’d enjoy working in a pub,” Arya mused.

“You wouldn’t be tall enough to see over the bar.”

“That was a completely unjustified attack on me, based on something I have no control over,” she huffed dramatically. Gendry smiled down at his notebook. “How would you like it if I made fun of your stupid muscles, or your constant frowning? Huh?” He pretended to consider this.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t really have a problem with any of that.” Arya made a little growling noise in frustration, and he had to bite back a smile. “I’d probably just wonder how long you’d been checking me out,” he said, working hard to keep a straight face.

“Observing is not _checking out_, Gendry.”

“Okay,” he nodded sceptically.

Gendry tried to concentrate on the timeline he was copying down. He got most of the way through it before Arya interrupted him.

“How’d you end up in a History class full of first year students?”

“How can someone so small be such a huge pain in my ass?”

“Aaaand we’re back to grumpy Gendry.”

“Arya,” he said sternly.

“Gendry,” she mimicked.

“Can we please just get this done?”

“Fine.”

She remained quiet for almost six whole minutes before she spoke again.

“I think I’ve figured out the cause of your grumpiness.”

He ignored her.

“You need to get laid.”

He ignored her some more.

“It’s fine, I mean, so do I,” she added with a shrug.

_Did she really just say that?_ Gendry tried to hide his surprise behind a frown.

“That’s probably why I’ve been bitchier than usual lately.”

“Well, good to know you’re not always like this,” he said. She huffed out a laugh as he turned back to his notes. He felt her studying him for a moment.

“You’re imagining fucking me right now, aren’t you?”

“No!” he whisper-yelled, as he quickly looked around to make sure no one could hear them. Annoyed at the satisfied smirk on her face, he grumbled under his breath. “You’re imagining fucking me too.”

“Yeah I am,” she said, and he snapped his head back up to look at her, his eyes examining her face carefully. Arya raised a confident eyebrow at him. “I bet you’d be good, too.” She sat back in her chair, contemplating. “Strong hands.”

“Fuck off,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. He turned back to the pages he was searching through, determined not to let her mock him any more. He could feel her watching him still, but he pretended to keep reading. It wasn’t like she could tell he’d read the same sentence four times.

“Do you know where the bathrooms are?” she asked abruptly.

“Uh, down that hallway, I think,” he motioned over his shoulder.

“Right. Well. I’m just gonna go... _take care of something_.” Gendry furrowed his brow at her words. He made a nondescript grunt to acknowledge that he’d heard her, but didn’t trust himself to look at her.

“Unless...” she paused, “maybe you’d like to take care of it for me?”

He looked up at her again and was struck by how heated her expression had become. Her eyes were dark with lust, and suddenly her meaning hit him.

“I– Wh– Uh–” he stammered, his mouth falling open. He saw her take in a breath, waiting for him to form a response, and he wondered if he could see a flicker of vulnerability cross her face. Before he could be sure, he heard himself responding.

“Do you mean...”

“Yeah?”

“Seriously?”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Yeah, if you think you _can_, you know, _take care of it_,” she challenged.

“I can.”

“Good. Prove it.”

“Fine, I will.”

They sat there for a moment, watching each other, when suddenly the tension snapped and they sprang into action. Arya flipped her notebook closed and re-capped her pen as Gendry slammed shut his textbook and stuffed his notes into his bag. When he stood up he found Arya watching him cautiously, as if waiting for him to come to his senses. The joke was on her, because he was quite certain his senses left the building when she walked in.

She set off towards one of the library’s research wings, conveniently abandoned at this time of night. She led the way up two flights of stairs, treading softly to avoid her boots squeaking on the steps. Gendry tried to tread softly too, but with his heartbeat hammering in his ears, he really wasn’t sure if he was succeeding.

Neither of them spoke as she guided them down a long, half-lit corridor, around a corner, and into an old archive room that didn’t look like it’d been used in decades. He followed her into the cramped space as she locked the door behind them. A dim light filtered in through the slatted blinds on the door, and Gendry couldn’t help but speak quietly.

“You sneak around here with all the guys?” he asked, as he dropped his bag in a dusty corner.

“I like finding good places to hide,” she said. He noticed that she hadn’t really answered him, and he wondered if it was because she’d brought lots of guys here, or because she’d never brought anyone here. He wasn’t sure why, but he suspected it was the latter.

Arya leaned against the opposite wall. She looked down as she slowly slipped out of her boots and nudged them next to her bag, out of the way. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked up at him. All of the bravado and teasing from earlier had gone. Maybe she didn’t expect him to agree to this, or maybe she thought she’d made her move, and now it was up to him to follow through. Well, he was certainly intending to follow through, if she’d let him. He maintained eye contact as he crossed the small space to stand in front of her.

“So. You had something that needed taking care of?”

She nodded.

He cautiously rested a hand on her hip as he stepped closer, brushing against her body. He lowered his lips to her neck, to the delicate spot right below her ear. It seemed somehow less intimate than kissing her on the lips, and since he wasn’t really sure what this was, he decided to move slowly. He breathed against her skin, gently kissing her neck as he pressed his body into hers. She sighed quietly, and raised her hands to skim his sides, brushing up his t-shirt and grazing the warm skin underneath.

Feeling her reaction, Gendry squeezed her hips tighter as he delivered firmer kisses down her neck, and collarbone, and shoulder. He gently slid his hands around to the curve of her ass, and down the backs of her thighs. His fingers brushed dangerously close to her core as he gripped her tighter and lifted her up, just enough to pull her feet off the floor. He turned to kiss the other side of her neck, his body flush against hers, pinning her between himself and the wall. His now obvious erection pressed into her heat, impeded by two layers of denim. She brought her hands up to grasp his shoulders, and at some point her foot had found a grip on an old desk beside them. She squirmed against his length, letting out a soft moan as Gendry bit down on her shoulder at the enticing friction.

With one hand holding her up, and with most of her weight supported by the desk, Gendry moved a hand between them to unbutton her jeans. He rested his forehead against hers as he slowly lowered the zipper. His fingers ghosted along the top of her underwear, but he paused, wanting to make sure this was what she wanted. Sensing his hesitation, she reassured him.

“Yes,” she breathed out, sounding sexier than he knew was possible.

He began to slowly trace patterns over the thin fabric, dipping lower, then dragging his fingers back up to tease at the elastic. 

“Stop that,” Arya growled impatiently, after a moment.

“Oh, you want me to stop?” Gendry said with a teasing smile.

“Arrrgh, no! I want you to give me what I want!” she huffed, and reinforced her point with a small thrust of her hips against Gendry’s hand. He moved his lips back to her ear and spoke in barely more than a whisper.

“Tell me what you want.”

“I want... Iwantyourfingersinsideme,” she breathed out in a rush.

“What was that?” Arya let out a frustrated groan.

“I want. Your fingers. Inside me,” she said again, punctuating her words by digging her nails into Gendry’s shoulders.

“As you wish, m’lady,” he said. Ignoring her muttered protests at the nickname, Gendry slipped his fingers into Arya’s underwear. “Oh my God,” he murmured as his fingers slid between the dripping wet folds of her pussy.

Arya gasped as he brushed over her hyper-sensitive bud. He stroked back up to catch it again, his whole hand already covered in her wetness. He yanked her jeans and panties down further to allow himself better access, then pressed his palm against her clit as he slowly eased a finger inside her. Arya let out a long, low growl as he worked his finger in and out of her at an agonising pace. After a few strokes, he slipped another finger in, instantly feeling the tight squeeze.

“_Fuck me_, you’re so tight,” he grunted. Gendry couldn’t help but grind his throbbing length against her in time with the movements of his hand. “Holy shit, you feel amazing.”

“Faster,” panted Arya. “Faster. Harder. _Please_.”

Gendry obeyed, increasing his speed, gradually working Arya into a frenzy. He plunged his fingers into her as quickly and as deeply as he could, curling to reach the most sensitive spot inside her, and trying to maintain friction against her clit.

“Is this what you want?” he asked, his voice husky with desire.

“_Unh_. Yes. Yesss.”

He hitched her up slightly higher on the wall, trying to find a better angle. She gasped at the sudden movement, but let out a moan when he reached even deeper inside her.

“These the strong hands you’ve been thinking about?”

She met his lusty gaze with her own, and a wicked grin spread across her lips. She nodded.

He could feel her beginning to tighten, feel her muscles starting to tremble. He used his whole body to keep her pinned against the wall and held her steady as he pumped his fingers into her as fast as he could, until she unraveled around him. Her arm wrapped around his neck as she buried her face against his shoulder, biting down to muffle her cries. He kept curling his fingers inside her as he drew out her pleasure for as long as he could. She continued to shake as she rode out the waves of her orgasm, until finally her panting subsided. Gendry slipped his fingers out of her wet heat and lowered her to the floor.

They stood there for several moments, trying to catch their breath. He couldn’t resist licking the taste of her off his fingers, and he wondered if he’d get the chance to taste her again. Arya rested her head against his chest and he brought his other hand up to stroke her hair. Eventually she raised her head and Gendry stepped back, waiting for her to look at him, waiting to see if things were going to be painfully awkward between them now. She brushed her hair back from her face and closed her eyes.

“Wow,” she breathed. She finally looked up at him through hazy eyes. She must have seen the tension on his face because she reached out and placed a hand against his chest.

Relieved that she seemed content with what had just happened, Gendry was surprised when she started to drag her hand down his torso, down… until she tucked her fingers into his belt. She brought up her other hand to start unbuckling it when he grabbed her wrist to stop her. 

“But–” He shook his head. “But that’s not fair–”

“Forget it,” he said. “We came here to take care of what you needed. I’d say we managed that.” He smirked and took another step back from her. Arya looked at him, brow furrowed and mouth hanging open, as she tried to work out what to say.

“Um. Okay?”

Gendry reached down to pick up his bag.

“I should get going,” he said.

Arya nodded.

“Will you be alright to get home?”

She nodded again.

“Okay. Well… I’ll see you later then.”

“Yep.”

He opened the door and paused on his way out. He let his gaze rake over her and met her eyes with a devilish smile, then he slipped out without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first scene I wrote (at 3:00am, when I couldn’t sleep) and everything else just spiraled out around it.
> 
> I really hope you’re enjoying this story. I’m so happy to finally be sharing it. Please continue to leave comments and kudos, and come check out the edits that accompany this fic over on my tumblr @forge-heat.
> 
> Next Time:  
Arya doesn’t know how to face Gendry after what’s happened between them, and things get pretty awkward.


	6. Crisis Management

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya doesn’t know how to face Gendry after what’s happened between them, and things get pretty awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that there are mentions of campus sexual assault. Although it may come across like a joke, it will be addressed more seriously in later chapters.
> 
> Previously:  
Gendry and Arya found themselves getting imtimate in the Archive Room.

The door clicked shut behind Gendry as he left the room. Arya slid to the floor, her elbows resting on her knees, her face in her hands.

“_Holy fuck,_” she whispered.

That had decidedly _not_ gone according to plan. She didn’t mean to get so carried away. It was just so easy to get under his skin. Something about Gendry made her want to keep pushing him and pushing him, just to see what would happen when he pushed back.

And tonight he pushed back.

Sansa had been right, she did get herself into situations that spiraled out of her control. Here she was in the middle of something she hadn't even meant to start. Not really. She hadn't been able to get Gendry's stupid face out of her head, and all the tension and frustration and attraction she felt had stirred her up. So, she prodded him and teased him until she said something that pushed them both right over the edge.

When Gendry had unexpectedly taken the bait, she had fully intended for it to be a quick and nasty fumble in an old cupboard. She would hopefully orgasm, get him off as quickly as she could, and then once she’d got it out of her system, maybe she’d be able to concentrate.

She certainly hadn’t expected him to be so gentle and attentive, and for him to take his sweet time in bringing her pleasure. A quick hook-up in a broom closet wasn’t meant to feel that good. It wasn’t meant to be slow, and sensual, and consuming. It wasn’t meant to make her feel like _this_.

Arya took a deep breath in and let it out in a rush. How the hell was she supposed to face him again? She wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes without remembering how they looked when they were filled with desire.

She pulled out her phone to check the time. Her seven minutes in heaven had lasted a good bit longer than she’d planned, and it had gotten later than she’d realised. Arya slipped her boots back on, and as she was re-tying the laces, she wondered why he’d stopped her when she’d tried to return the favour. When she’d suggestively said he could take care of her needs, she had assumed that she would do the same for him. Had he not realised that? Or had he just not wanted her to? He’d seemed to be enjoying it, but maybe he hadn’t been as into it as she thought. She hated the self-doubt she felt creeping in, but fortunately she was distracted by a text from Sansa asking where she was. She hastily typed back that she was on her way home.

Arya stood up, swinging her bag over her shoulder as she left the room. As she turned to close the door, she noticed a label on the wall beside her.

**Archive Room**

_So that’s what they call it_, she thought.  
  


**—:—:—**

  
The next morning, Arya was still thinking about what had happened in the Archive Room. She was annoyed at herself for letting it affect her this much. She had never been the type to be consumed by thoughts of the opposite sex, but since working so closely with Gendry on this assessment, she’d felt a nagging need for… something. She thought an orgasm might have solved the problem, but apparently there was more to it than that.

The more immediate issue that was bothering her was the lack of reciprocity. Maybe it wouldn’t be playing on her mind so much, but recently she’d been studying exchange and transaction in her Anthropology class. She couldn’t help but think that if she was a tribesman in Papua New Guinea, she’d owe Gendry a pig. And she didn’t like the feeling of being in anyone’s debt.

Should she say something to him? Ask him to explain why he’d stopped her? Maybe then she could work out whether he expected, or even wanted her to balance things out. However, to do that she’d actually have to talk to him about it, and that thought alone made her want to melt into the floor.

But how could she possibly avoid the subject? They still faced weeks of working together, and it seemed unlikely, maybe impossible, that they could just ignore what happened. She knew they’d have to deal with it eventually, but right now she was happy to distract herself by working on her Essosi Literature essay, and pointedly avoiding her Anthro homework about social transactions.  
  


—

  
When Arya had finished her essay, read ahead for her next classes, and begrudgingly completed her Anthropology homework, she had to accept the fact that she’d run out of distractions. She was waiting for her latest notes for their History assignment to print out, and as she watched the stuttering progress of the pages, she couldn’t stop her mind from wandering.

She thought back to the moment they'd stepped into the small room, and she remembered feeling the energy change. It was as if the reality of what was happening caught up with her, and for a second she felt so unsure of herself. She’d even stopped to take off her boots in her panic to find something else to look at besides him.

Gendry didn't seem to have the same problem. He'd been calm, and confident, and just sort of... charming. He had taken charge of what they were doing and drawn her into the moment in a way she'd never experienced with anyone before. He'd taken the lead without taking away any of her control. And then he'd...

She shook her head, feeling flustered at the memory. She could feel herself getting worked up, her horniness growing as she recalled the feeling of his hands on her body. With these thoughts and her doubts from earlier whirring through her mind, she felt a growing need to hit something.  
  


—

  
After an hour of boxing training at the campus gym, Arya was feeling much more like herself again. She’d let out some of her nervous energy and was thinking more clearly.

She didn’t have a firm plan in place to see Gendry again, so she decided there was no point in worrying about how awkward it would be when it happened. They would both have plenty of time to move on from the _Archive Room Incident_. When they saw each other again she would just be cool, act like it was any other study session, and take it from there. She was feeling very pleased with how well she had handled this crisis of confidence.

Arya swept her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head and stuffed her gear back into her gym bag. She burst out of the doors with a spring in her step, swinging her bag onto her shoulder. Unfortunately, she failed to notice the slightly pudgy young man carrying several boxes of baked goods, who was standing right in the path of her bag. She grimaced as she heard the _thud_ of her bag knocking both Hot Pie and the baked goods to the ground. As she hurried to apologise and help him salvage as many muffins as she could, she became aware of the tall, muscular, excruciatingly blue-eyed man standing over them. 

She jumped to her feet, stunned. Just as Gendry was opening his mouth to speak, Arya blurted out another quick apology and scurried past them both, trying very hard not to break into a sprint. She didn’t miss the look on Gendry’s face as his surprised smile turned to a look of hurt confusion.

_Oh yeah. Crisis really well handled._  
  


**—:—:—**

  
Gendry watched Arya walk away from him in a hurry. He’d been worrying about how awkward it might be between them now, but this was pretty much the worst-case scenario. Hot Pie stood up beside him, with most of the muffins intact.

“Was that Arya?” he asked. Gendry’s mood had soured considerably, so he merely grunted in the affirmative. “She seemed a bit off.” Hot Pie paused, considering. “What’d you do?”

“I didn’t do–” he started to snap at Hot Pie, but that wasn’t exactly true. He’d certainly done _something_.

“Wow, it must’ve been pretty bad if she’s not even speakin’ to you.” With the boxes of muffins rebalanced, they continued down the footpath.

“It wasn’t bad, it was just…” Gendry struggled for the right word.

“What?”

“Different?” he cringed.

“Gen, mate, just tell me,” Hot Pie said encouragingly. Gendry let out a resigned sigh.

“We sort of… hooked up last night, in the library.”

“Whoa.” Hot Pie stopped in his tracks, but Gendry pushed at his shoulder to keep him moving. “That’s… Um… Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“When you say _‘hooked up’_…”

“No. No way, I’m not telling you about it, ‘cause then you’ll turn red, and we’ll both be embarrassed, and… No. We hooked up, let’s leave it at that.”

“Are you and Arya gonna leave it at that?”

“Oh God, I don’t know. I’ve been stressing all last night and this morning about how it’s gonna be between us now, and then we bump into her and she doesn’t even speak to me. What am I supposed to think of that?” he asked in a huff.

“I don’t know, mate. Pod’s the one who knows about girls. Maybe you should ask him.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it any more than I have to. The only thing that could make this situation worse is Arya hearing about it and thinking I’ve been talking about her to everyone.”

“Yeah, I s’pose that’s fair,” Hot Pie nodded.

They had arrived at the fundraising bake sale, and Hot Pie delivered the muffins to a festively attired stall attendant. After an awkwardly long conversation about the best technique for mixing batter, he turned back to Gendry with a consoling smile.

“Well, I don’t really know what to say to make you feel better, but when I met Arya she seemed pretty sure of 'erself. I reckon she’ll make it clear what she wants, as long as you don’t say or do anything stupid. So I guess… don’t be stupid?”

Gendry gave Hot Pie a tight-lipped smile and patted him on the shoulder.

“Thanks Hot Pie. You’ve been a big help.”

Hot Pie seemed pleased with this, and offered Gendry a muffin – one that had only been stepped on a little bit.  
  


**—:—:—**

  
A week later, having successfully avoided any more calamitous run-ins with Gendry, Arya received an email from her father with another document he’d found, pertaining to the later years of King Bran’s reign. While she was thrilled to have more material for their assignment, she knew it meant she would have to arrange another study date with Gendry.

_Not a date,_ she told herself. _A study _**_session_**.

Accepting that she couldn’t avoid him forever, she typed out a message that was as direct as possible.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Got another King Bran doc from Dad. Late reign, which will help fill some gaps. You free sometime soon to discuss?_ **

She read the message through twice to make sure it sounded okay, and when she was satisfied, she sent it. She stared at the screen for several moments. Just as she was feeling foolish and was about to put her phone away, three dots appeared.

And then disappeared.

And then reappeared.

And then disappeared.

_I swear to God whoever invented that should be tried for crimes against humanity_, she thought darkly.

Finally a message came through.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _I’m relieved you’re speaking to me. Worried there’d be another muffin catastrophe before I heard from you. I can do this afternoon, otherwise not until next week._ **

She closed her eyes, willing the sudden storm in her stomach to calm down, and typed out a reply.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Hilarious. Better be this afternoon then. 3pm?_ **

She couldn’t bear to watch those fucking dots again, so she closed her eyes until she felt her phone buzz.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _3 is good. Can we meet in the study room at Tarly Building? It’s way closer to the workshop._ **

Images of Gendry covered in dirt and sweat from his metalworking flooded her imagination. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

_Pull yourself together! You’re better than this._

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _No problem._ **

She really hoped she was better than this.  
  


**—:—:—**

  
Gendry walked into the Tarly Building study room at 2:54pm. He set up his notes, trying to spread it out and make it look like he’d already been working for a while. He wanted to show her that he was going to continue to work on the project as normal. The rest was entirely up to her.

Arya arrived at 3:06pm, which was basically right on time by her standards. She lowered her book bag off her shoulder and sat down at the table, taking out her laptop and bundles of notes. Gendry was wondering just how long they could go without speaking when she finally broke the silence.

“I wasn’t not talking to you,” she said. He could tell she was trying to sound certain, but her voice wavered slightly.

“Oh. Well, that’s… good,” he finished lamely. It wasn’t great, but at least they were talking.

“So I’ve brought the new material my dad sent me. He’s also included some photos of weapons that are believed to have been forged by the royal blacksmiths around that time. I thought you’d be particularly interested in that.” She smiled warmly at him.

“Yes! Definitely, I am,” he said as he took the pages she offered. “These are incredible. Where’d the photos come from?”

“Dad took them himself. The actual weapons are stored in the archive–” Arya froze at the word, her expression telling him they were both thinking about another archive altogether.

She cleared her throat and carried on with her explanation of the new documents. Apparently they were taking the pretend-it-never-happened approach. Gendry wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed, but he went along with it anyway.

When they’d talked about where best to include a discussion of the weapons in their report, they set to work. They continued to make their way through the assessment requirements, but Gendry could tell that Arya was unsettled. After several minutes of watching her squirming in her chair in his peripheral vision, he wasn’t surprised when she spoke.

“I really wasn’t not talking to you.” He looked at her closely, sensing there was more. “I was just… surprised to see you so soon, after… Erm, well. I was just surprised.”

“Yeah, I– I was surprised, too. And Hot Pie was very surprised,” he said teasingly. Arya put her face in her hands.

“I felt so bad about that! Were there many casualties?”

“Only a couple. You haven’t ruined your chances of receiving free baked goods in the future.”

“Oh man, that’s such a relief!” Arya said, her voice coloured with humour. “Really, though, I am sorry. For the muffins… and the awkwardness.”

“It’s fine, let’s just forget the whole thing.” Arya’s face became serious at this, and she nodded.

“Okay,” she said. She returned to her work, and this time she didn’t wriggle. In fact, she was as still as a statue.

_She didn’t think I meant… No, she got it. We should forget the awkwardness. She knows I meant we should just forget the awkwardness. God knows I can’t forget the rest._  
  


—

  
They had been quietly working on their own sections of the assignment for the better part of an hour when Gendry’s spinning mind got the better of his tongue.

“Before, when I said we should just forget the whole thing…”

Arya looked up, surprised by the sound of him speaking. She blinked, waiting for him to go on.

“I didn’t mean we should forget the _whole_ thing. Just the awkward part.”

“Oh. Uh… yeah, I understood,” Arya said, nodding hastily. She stared at him for a moment longer, before they both continued working quietly.  
  


—

  
Arya sat up straight and twisted around in her chair, stretching her back. They’d been working for several hours and had made a lot of progress. She leaned back and looked out the window as the last of the day’s light faded. She knew they’d need to finish up soon, and she was starting to feel hungry, but there was something else she had to do.

She’d been going back and forth about it all afternoon, and she just couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t let him leave without getting the weight she’d been carrying off her chest, so she decided she’d say it and be done with it.

“Just so you know…” she started. _I can’t believe I’m saying this._ “I, erm, I don’t…"

Gendry looked at her with his trademark confused frown. She let out a sharp breath and spoke quickly, before she lost her nerve.

“I don’t like to owe people a debt. So, um, if you ever wanted to collect on yours... you should just, ah… let me know.” She watched Gendry trying to make sense of what she was saying. She thought he almost had it but then he frowned again.

“What?” he asked. She sighed.

“If you would ever like me to _repay the favour_, you know, from the other night, then you should just let me know.”

“Oh.”

“Yep.” He looked at her carefully for a moment. 

“I’ll... keep that in mind,” he said.

Arya gave a curt nod, and returned to typing up the last of her notes, silently praying the ground would open up and devour her whole.  


—

  
When Gendry noticed Arya starting to pack up her things, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. He had spent the last twenty minutes trying very hard to look engrossed in his work, but in reality he hadn’t been able to think of anything else after she’d mentioned the favour she supposedly owed him. Every fibre of his being was compelling him to keep his damn mouth shut and leave it alone. And yet he knew if they didn’t get away from each other in a hurry, it was likely to burst out of him. Fortunately, Arya had packed up quickly.

“I’m gonna head out,” she said. “I’ll email you a new draft for you to take a look at.”

“Great. Thanks,” he answered awkwardly.

“Night.”

“Night.”

As he watched Arya walk away from him, Gendry felt immensely relieved. At the very least, they had proven they could still manage to work together, and now that she was gone, he wouldn’t be able to say anything moronic that would leave him feeling like he wanted to evaporate into thin air. He was also relieved because she wouldn’t be able to say anything that would make his blood rush south.

He took his time gathering up his belongings, trying to think about what he’d like for dinner in an attempt to push any remaining thoughts of Arya out of his mind. As he walked out the doors of Tarly Building, he wasn’t really that surprised to see Arya leaning against a column, tapping away on her phone. After all, he’d managed to suppress thoughts of her for well over eight minutes now. Apparently that was all the time the universe would allow.

“Waiting for a ride?” he asked, trying not to startle her.

“Yeah, my friend was meant to meet me but she’s not here yet.”

“I’ll wait with you.” She looked at him like he’d grown another head. “This part of campus doesn’t have many security cameras,” he said by way of explanation. “And it’s only right that since I am the root cause of all campus sexual assaults, I should do my part to help prevent them.”

“I’m just not even gonna touch that one.” Her smile reached her eyes as she shook her head at him. He smiled back, and they settled into a comfortable silence, standing there, looking at their phones. He tried not to say it, he really did. But as the minutes wore on his resolve weakened until he just couldn’t help himself.

“You know you don’t actually owe me anything, right?”

She looked as though she was formulating a response. He found himself desperately curious to know what she would say, to understand her logic.

“I guess I just expected it to be reciprocal,” she finally said. “Like, I just assumed that would be the case, so it felt weird when it didn’t happen that way. I dunno, it’s been hanging over me.”

“Not jerking me off has been hanging over you?” he teased.

“Shut up,” she retorted, but she couldn’t help letting out a laugh. The sound made him smile. “Honestly, I wish you had just let me do it at the time. I could have spent a lot less time worrying about it. Come to think of it, why did you stop me?” Her gaze had him pinned in place as she waited for him to answer. 

“Because I thought you might feel like you had to,” he said quietly. She seemed to consider his answer before she finally nodded. “Do you feel like we shouldn’t’ve done it?” he asked after a moment, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“We’re partners on a massive project worth half our grade and we have to keep spending time together until it’s done. _Of course_ we shouldn’t have done it!” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he laughed with her. “But I’m glad we did,” she added. He could hear the sincerity in her voice.

Her friend’s car pulled up then, and as she reached for the door, he called out to her.

“Should we do it again?”

He didn’t get an answer, and she didn’t look back at him, but he saw her smile as she slipped into the passenger seat, and he knew that she knew that he saw.

As Gendry started to make his way back towards the main part of the campus, he decided he was glad he’d said something. It felt more comfortable between them, like any residual tension from what had happened in the Archive Room was gone, and now they could laugh about it. Like a fun, little inside joke. The fact that thinking about their fun, little inside joke made him want to grab her and rip her clothes off was a problem for another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No muffins were harmed in the making of this chapter. A few were eaten, though.
> 
> I realise that the line about owing Gendry a pig may only be funny to me because of the ethnography I once studied for an anthropology class, but I find it so incredibly funny that I couldn’t bear to cut it. Not even sorry.
> 
> If you’d like to know more about that particular story, or anything else related to this fic, feel free to send me an ask on tumblr. I’d love to hear from you!
> 
> Next Time:  
Arya and Gendry are feeling more comfortable around each other. When Arya visits Gendry in the campus blacksmithing workshop, things heat up.


	7. Work of Art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya and Gendry are feeling more comfortable around each other. When Arya visits Gendry in the campus blacksmithing workshop, things heat up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the joke about owing Gendry a pig was pretty popular, but my favourite part about it is this… When the Papua New Guineans make these reciprocal exchanges, they get really competitive. It’s basically a competition of who can give the biggest pig to the other tribe. So not only does Arya feel like she’s in Gendry’s debt, but it kinda suggests that she wants to win the exchange, which is just… very Arya. Not saying that necessarily plays into the story here, but it’s a headcanon I’m willing to accept.
> 
> Previously:  
Arya didn’t know how to face Gendry after what had happened between them. Things got pretty awkward, until they were able to clear the air.

When Arya left her bedroom on Wednesday morning, she found Theon helping himself to some cereal. _So that’s why we always run out so fast, _she thought.

“What’s got you smiling?” he asked around a mouthful of Cheerios. “It looks weird on you.”

“Well Theon, the non-smiling Arya might tell you to go fuck yourself, but since I’m in a good mood, I’ll just tell you to have a great fucking day. I really hope you don’t trip over any stairs, or walk into any glass doors. Or both.”

“That was one fucking time!” Theon yelled as Arya yanked the front door shut behind her.

She had been feeling pretty good for the past week, although she was a bit surprised that her improved mood was so obvious to others, especially someone as emotionally dense as Theon. Clearing things up between her and Gendry had left her feeling relieved, to say the least. They’d found a way to get past the whole situation, and seemed to be able to carry on working as they had before, which was better than any outcome she’d been hoping for.

Frankly, she couldn’t believe she’d been able to avoid all of the usual messiness faced by people who hook up when they really shouldn’t. Things could have ended disastrously for their project. Arya chuckled to herself as she wondered whether Professor Lannister would consider ill-advised flings between partners a serious enough reason to swap. She doubted it. 

With the awkwardness between her and Gendry behind them, Arya felt like they were making good progress on the assignment, and she had a handle on her workload for her other classes, too. She’d been sleeping better and waking refreshed, and had been finding time to get to the gym regularly. She and Sansa were also trying to spend some quality time together whenever they could fit it in. Arya decided that as far as her college experience was concerned, she was fucking nailing it.  


—

  
  
As Arya was leaving her Essosi Lit lecture, she felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. She smiled when she saw Gendry’s name on the screen.

** _Gendry  
_** ** _My business class was cancelled, so I’ve got some time today if you want to work on section 4._ **

** _Arya  
_** ** _I’m actually heading to the library now, so that works out great._ **

**_Gendry  
_****_See you in a bit._**

Arya determined that the fluttering feeling in her belly was caused by her sense of relief at their more stable working relationship. Nothing more.  


— 

Arya found an upstairs table with enough room to spread out. She started tapping her pen in the way she usually only did when she was nervous, but today she felt like she had more energy than she knew what to do with. She hoped she’d be able to channel it into the project. She waved to catch Gendry’s eye when she saw him walk in, and thought he seemed more upbeat than usual, too. _There must be something in the air_, she decided, as she watched him bound up the stairs. He smiled at her as he approached the table and set his bag down, then looked at her more closely, as if he was trying to figure something out.

“You seem… happy? Excited? I can’t tell,” he said, taking the seat opposite her.

“I guess I’m just having a good day,” she shrugged. 

“That’s great,” he nodded, giving her a genuine smile. “Here’s what I’ve been working on. Why don’t you take a look and tell me what needs fixing,” he said as he handed her some typed pages. 

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Arya.” He gave her a look. “I haven’t shown you a single one of my answers that you haven’t made changes to. I’ve made my peace with it. Just do your thing.”

“Fair enough,” she chuckled. “I’ll send my latest draft to the printer. Would you grab it for me while I read over this?” 

“Sure thing.”

Arya only found a few points that she thought should be adjusted, and she wondered whether his work had improved, or if she was just less critical because of her current positive outlook. By the time he returned, walking slowly as he read through her answers, she had decided it wouldn’t hurt to pay him the compliment, either way.

“Seems fine to me,” she told him as he sat down. “You’ve gotten better.” 

“Thanks,” he said. “So have you. I mean, this section looks… good.” She could see the colour rising in his cheeks. 

“Thanks,” she said with an amused smile. 

“I think someone from our class left their assessment outline at the printer,” he said after a beat. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. They’d only crossed off half the requirements in the first part, and one thing in the second.” 

“Oh boy,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Yep,” Gendry nodded. They shared a meaningful look before Arya giggled.

“We’ve got this,” she said confidently. Gendry laughed and offered her his hand for a high-five, which she met, despite how incredibly cheesy it was.

Arya was still surprised at how well they were getting along. It was hard to remember that at the beginning of all this she’d been convinced their partnership would be a difficult one. And more recently she’d thought their visit to the Archive Room would be their downfall. Now, as she glanced over at the look of concentration on Gendry’s face, she couldn’t believe how well things had worked out. They really did make a good team, and she was more certain than ever that they would knock this project out of the park.

—

“Huh,” said Arya, after a productive hour of work. “I’ve found something interesting.”

“Is it about art and culture? Because that would be a huge help.”

“No, it’s about the Silly Bobby.” Gendry looked at her in confusion. “You know that story Hot Pie likes so much, about King Robert, and the knight who stole his woman?”

“I know it far too well,” he grumbled.

“Turns out his version isn’t quite accurate. Robert wasn’t the king at the time, and the man who loved the same woman was actually the prince. Apparently the prince kidnapped her, and that was what led Robert to rebel against the crown. Although some sources seem to suggest they ran away together, which doesn’t reflect too well on our dear old Bobby,” Arya said with a smirk.

“Huh. That is interesting,” Gendry nodded. “Whatever you do, don’t tell Hot Pie.”

“What? Why not?”

“Arya, he finds someone to tell that story to almost every shift we work. If he knew he’d been telling it wrong, he’d make sure to tell everybody the correct version, and Pod and I would go mad!”

Arya laughed loudly as she pictured the devastated look on Hot Pie’s face. She was about to threaten to tell him anyway when she noticed Ned Dayne walking around to each of the study tables. He had a worried look on his face, and didn’t seem to notice the glares he was getting as he rifled through people’s notes.

“Ned?” she asked in concern, as he bent down to look under the table beside them.

“Arya!” Ned almost shouted. He narrowly avoided hitting his head on the table as he jumped up. “You haven’t seen my copy of the assessment outline anywhere, have you? God, I can’t believe I’ve lost it!”

Arya glanced at Gendry who raised his eyebrows at her, and she thought she saw a hint of an amused grin appear on his face. She didn’t want to embarrass Ned, so she tried to find a subtle way of helping him.

“Maybe you should retrace your steps,” she suggested gently. “You might have left it with some books? Or at the printer?”

“The printer! I haven’t checked there! Thanks Arya, you're brilliant,” he said effusively. She gave him an encouraging smile as he left, and noticed Gendry rolling his eyes at Ned’s disorganisation. 

“Poor Ned,” she said, shaking her head. 

“Mmhm,” Gendry mumbled.

He seemed to have turned his attention back to the notes he was working on. She didn’t want to distract him with any more conversation, but she couldn’t prevent her eyes from lingering on him. There was something undeniably sexy about watching someone as attractive and strong as Gendry working so hard on something academic. It really wasn’t fair that he should be handsome _and_ intelligent. And somehow he was kind, too. Much more so than she would have expected when they first met.

As she watched him chewing on his bottom lip in concentration, Arya thought about how it would feel to kiss him. To casually lace her fingers through his. She wondered what it would be like to be his girlfriend. 

The thought startled her, and she didn’t know where it had come from. _Stupid_, she thought. _That’s not what this is. Not even close!_

What happened between them the other night had been about scratching an itch. He had been willing to help, and that was all there was to it. She couldn’t afford to let herself get flustered by a ridiculous daydream. What they had now could almost be described as friendship, and she reminded herself that she should be happy with that outcome. She had to focus on making sure that their work on the assignment was the priority, and hope that any attraction she felt to him would eventually just simmer out.

—

“I’m getting a headache from looking at this screen,” said Gendry, rubbing his eyes. Arya hummed in agreement as she finished the page she was reading. They had used the afternoon effectively, and Arya’s cheerfulness had somehow increased in the hours they’d spent together.

_Because we got so much done._ _Not because of being with him._

“We’ll need to go through the assessment criteria carefully to make sure we’ve got everything covered,” she said, as she started packing up her work. “In fact, I’m gonna make a list. I’ll feel better if I can cross things out with a big black marker.”

“Make me a copy, will you?”

“You don’t trust me to do it?” she asked with a pointed eyebrow.

“Of course I do, I just… I like crossing off lists, too,” he finished quietly. 

Arya tried unsuccessfully to stifle her giggle. When Gendry gave her a stern look she busied herself with zipping up her bag, hoping he couldn’t see her grin.

“So, are you doing anything tonight?” she asked as they walked out together.

“I’ll be in the workshop. I was able to book in some extra time to use the forge for my metalworking assignment.”

“What are you making?”

“It’s a sort of throne made out of swords. I’m forging all these different types of iron weapons, and then weaving them together to form the shape of the throne.”

“Huh. That sounds pretty cool,” she said.

“I needed something impressive enough to get me a decent grade, but unfortunately that means it’s a lot of work. If I’d known this History assignment was coming, I might not have been so ambitious.”

“I'm sure it’ll turn out great,” she said with a warm smile, and Gendry seemed lifted by her encouragement. 

“Thanks,” he said, as they reached the courtyard. “I’ll see you later, Arya.”

“Bye Gendry.”

She stood there for a moment, watching him walk away. Before he turned the corner, he looked back and gave her a little wave. She smiled at him and waved back, then she took a deep breath and headed home.

**—:—:—**

Gendry scribbled out another sketch, and decided that the page had so many unsuccessful attempts at a drawing of a dagger that it was probably best to just tear it out and start again. He let out a heavy sigh and stretched his neck to either side before giving it another go.

He hoped that spending some time in the forge that evening might help him work off some of the extra energy he’d been bubbling with all day. Hammering away at a chunk of red-hot metal had a way of helping him switch off his thoughts. He really would have liked to get on with hitting something, but unfortunately he needed to do more research on some new weapons first. He was looking at ways to add in daggers and battle axes to his project to give it more variety. He just had to figure out how to make them. 

He was crossing out another drawing when his phone lit up with a message. He was happy to have a distraction, and even happier when he saw it was from Arya. 

** _Arya  
_** ** _Gendry! I found cave paintings!!!_ **

** _Gendry  
_** ** _I feel like you want me to be excited, but I’m not sure why. Help me out here._ **

** _Arya  
_****_I can cross-reference them to artworks from Bran’s era to show how history continued to influence their ideas of art and beauty. That’s like, the whole of the third part DONE! _**

Gendry’s eyebrows shot up. She had just found something that would help him enormously with his most difficult section of their assignment. How was she so good at finding this stuff?

** _Gendry  
_****_Holy shit, Arya that’s huge!_**

** _Arya  
_****_Are you still at the workshop? Can I come show you??_**

** _Gendry  
_** ** _Yes! I have to see this! You’ve just saved me so much work._ **

** _Arya  
_** ** _You should go ahead and order that ‘World’s Best Assignment Partner’ mug._ **

He smiled at the message, and realised that even though he’d spent hours with her this afternoon, he was already looking forward to seeing her again.

How was it possible that an unexpected hook-up, and a ton of awkwardness afterwards, could end up leading to… could he call it friendship? He wanted to. Whatever it was, it seemed to be working for them. It was strange to think that he could have been paired up with anyone in the class, and he was lucky enough to have been sitting next to her. 

They had developed a rhythm to their work, and seemed to be in sync with each other. He’d found her more than a little intimidating when they were partnered together, but over time he’d figured out how to read her better, and he liked what he’d seen. It was easy to be around her. In fact, he loved the time they spent together. She was intoxicating, and he was letting himself get drunk on her.

He knew he was walking down a dangerous path, and he had to be careful not to upset the balance they’d struck. There was so much at stake. This project was too important, and though he tried to push the idea aside, he knew Arya was becoming important to him, too.

Gendry took a deep breath and returned to his drawings, determined to get a handle on his thoughts before she arrived.

**—:—:—**

Walking through the corridors of the Smallwood Building, Arya felt a chill run through her. It felt strange to be in the deserted halls at night, with only the orange glow of the outside lights to guide her way. Arya couldn’t help being reminded of the research wing of the library, and the dark hallways that lead to the Archive Room. She was overwhelmed with memories of that night, and she felt a knot tightening in her stomach.

The light in the hallway became brighter as she approached the workshop, the fluorescent beam streaming out through the half-open door. Arya paused for a moment, trying to focus on the reason she was there. She hoped she looked more collected than she felt.

“Hey,” she said, as she knocked lightly on the door. 

“Hi! Come on in,” Gendry replied, giving her a friendly smile.

“Oh, wow!” Arya’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the half-finished metal sculpture standing proudly on a large worktable. “When you told me about it I was picturing, like… a chair, but more stabby.” Gendry laughed at her description. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Is… that a good thing?”

“Yes! Gendry this is… it’s a work of art!” Gendry looked pleased, though he tried to hide it behind a modest smile.

“Thanks,” he said quietly. 

Arya looked around the room and took in the wide variety of tools and equipment that the workshop was supplied with. It seemed that metalworking, woodworking, and possibly even glass blowing classes all made use of the limited space. She thought that if all the students were producing work as good as Gendry’s, it was a shame there weren’t more resources available to encourage their creativity.

She moved to put her bag down by one of the workbenches and pulled up an old wooden chair that had quite possibly been made in the workshop. Gendry wandered over to stand behind her as she took out the photos of the cave paintings to show him. She tried to hide the shiver that ran down her spine as he leaned over her.

“Wow,” he breathed. “These are great!”

“I’ve already highlighted some of the observations made by the author of the paper. I think I might even be able to tie in the markings in these caves to the war that made Bran king.”

“Really? That’ll be a huge help for my section, Arya,” he said, sounding relieved. “You gonna work on this tonight?” She nodded. “Well, I’m the only one who’ll be in here using the forge. You’re welcome to stay and work on it here, if you like. That way you can keep me up to speed as you go.” 

“Oh, yeah, that’d be helpful. Thanks.”

“Unless you’re sick of me, of course,” he teased.

“Can’t afford to be,” Arya said with a smirk. “Professor Lannister said we couldn’t swap partners.” Gendry chuckled.

“I should warn you, it can get pretty hot in here when the forge is going.”

“That’s fine.” She didn’t dwell on the fact that she was already feeling a little flushed just from being near him.

Gendry walked back over to the forge and started to light it. It felt different, being here with him. Usually when they worked together, there were at least a few other people around. But here, in a space he knew well, but she was unfamiliar with, and with no one else in sight, it felt… intimate. She was acutely aware that they were unsupervised, with no one to inhibit their actions. 

Arya pulled out her laptop and began searching for more articles related to the cave paintings, while Gendry set up the forge and started working. She tried her best to maintain her focus on the notes she was typing, but she kept finding herself distracted by the man moving behind her.

She had angled herself at the bench in a way that allowed her to watch Gendry out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze kept drifting to his arms, watching the way his muscles rippled with each strike of his hammer, and she was mesmerised by the sparks that flew from the hot metal he was shaping. As he dipped the glowing tongs into a bucket of water, a plume of steam swelled up around him, causing a sheen of sweat to form on his skin. It was quite obscene. Bordering on pornographic. And she couldn’t look away.

“Sorry, is all the banging making it hard to concentrate?” Gendry asked. He must have noticed her frequent glances, although thankfully he misunderstood the reason behind them. It took Arya a moment to respond, since all she’d heard was ‘_banging’_ and ‘_hard’._

“What? Oh, no. It doesn’t bother me.”

“If you’re sure,” he said with a shrug. 

Arya told herself to get a grip, and she thought she’d just about managed to, but then Gendry took off his shirt.

_Oh, fucking hell._

If she thought she’d been distracted before, it was nothing compared to the way he drew her attention now. Apparently the cave paintings and Gendry’s project weren’t the only works of art on display tonight.

Arya let out a deep breath and tried to regain her focus. She had just found a great source, and she had lots of new material she could easily slot into their existing report. All she had to do was stop ogling him and get it done. She turned her chair towards the workbench, opened up her laptop, and tried very hard not to imagine Gendry thrusting into her with every rhythmic _ting!_ of his hammer.

—

A short time later, Arya simply gave up. She stood and turned her chair around towards him, dragged over an old crate to prop her feet on, then pulled her computer on to her lap. She tried to tell herself that she was more comfortable sitting like this, and the fact that she was now facing Gendry and could easily watch him work was merely a secondary factor. She didn’t find herself to be very convincing.

When she glanced up and saw him bending over to stoke the fire with a poker she decided she may as well have brought some popcorn, considering the show he was inadvertently putting on.

_Unless it’s not an accident._

It suddenly occurred to Arya that perhaps Gendry knew exactly the effect he was having on her. That maybe all of his flexing and hammering and bending over was a way of showing off. The idea that his display was for her benefit sent a rush of molten heat to her pussy.

_Of course he’s not doing it on purpose. He’s just trying to work on his project. Maybe you should try it!_

Arya let out a frustrated sigh, hoping he couldn't hear her from the other side of the room. She returned to her notes, determined to achieve something. Something other than letting herself become a horny mess as she gawked at her assignment partner.

—

Arya managed to focus on the cave paintings for a while, but after hunching over her computer, her back was in need of a break. Arya stood up to stretch and started to feel the room heating up. She removed her loose t-shirt, leaving her in just a tight-fitting cropped tank top. As she swept her hair up off her neck, and into a messy ponytail on the top of her head, she noticed Gendry looking over at her. His eyes were dark and glossy, and his expression seemed a little dazed.

“You were right, it does get hot in here,” she said, as casually as she could. “I’m just glad I was wearing leggings and not jeans.”

At the mention of her clothing, she watched as Gendry’s gaze drew all the way down her legs and slowly back up her body. When he met her eyes, she saw a dark smile cross his lips. He kept his eyes locked with hers for a moment longer before he turned back to his anvil. She was reminded of the way he had looked at her when he left the Archive Room, and suddenly the heat in the workshop was nothing compared to the heat pooling in the pit of her stomach. 

Gendry returned to his work, and as Arya sat back down, she noticed the delicate way he was turning a sword over in his hands, inspecting every inch of it. The way his fingers moved over the blade caused her to remember how those fingers had felt on her body. The way he’d held her, and touched her, and brought her crashing down around him. 

She was so distracted by the intense memories that she hardly registered Gendry placing the sword down beside several others, wiping his hands, and turning to walk towards her.

He came over to where she was theoretically working and sat down on the floor beside her chair, his back leaning against the base of the workbench. Arya closed her laptop and placed it on the bench, regretting the action immediately. She could no longer pretend her attention was on anything but him. She looked to him, and noticed he seemed tired, but content. He obviously loved this work.

“It suits you,” she said with a coy smile.

“Hmm?”

“This. Blacksmithing. It just seems to… fit you.” 

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah.” A smirk hinted at his mouth, but he didn’t say anything further. A moment later, she blurted out a question that had been forming in the back of her mind all evening. “Would you make me a sword?”

“You want a sword?” he asked, clearly amused.

“Yeah, I think it’d be cool. Not one of those big, heavy Westerosi ones. I want a thin Braavosi type, like they use for water dancing. Something small and sharp and beautiful.”

“Uhh, yeah,” he said as he considered it. “Yeah, I could probably make that. It might take me some time to figure out the technique, but I could give it a go,” he nodded. Arya beamed at him.

“You’ll do it? For real?” She couldn’t quite believe it.

“Yes, I’ll do it for real,” he laughed. “Though not until I’ve finished this.” He gestured at the sculpture behind him. “And probably not until the whole History project is out of the way, too.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. Take your time,” she nodded quickly. “That’s so cool. That you can just... make me a sword. It’s–” Arya bit her lip, unsure if she should say what she was thinking. _Fuck it_, she decided. _I’m already in this deep_. “It’s kinda hot.”

“Is that so?” he asked with a cocky grin.

“Yes, that’s so,” she laughed. “It’s also very distracting,” she added quietly.

“_I’m_ distracting?! Do you know how hard it is to concentrate on swinging a hammer straight with you sitting over here looking like this?” He gestured at her body with a nod. 

She stared at him for a moment. Overcome by a desperate impulse, she leapt from her chair and dropped to the floor where he sat, straddling his lap. Her fingers started furiously unbuckling his belt, and his hands went to her hips in surprise.

“Arya, wh– I– Arya, wait,” he said, putting a hand over both of hers to pause her movements. “I didn’t say that just to get into your pants.” His other hand came up to brush the side of her face, his fingers catching the whisps of hair that had come loose. 

“I know,” she said with a steady voice. She looked him straight in the eye to reassure him. “Now shut up and let me get into yours.” Her mischievous smile made him laugh. He removed his hand from hers and instead moved to grip her thighs on either side of him, warming her skin through her thin leggings.

Arya finally got his belt loose and unzipped his blackened pants. Gendry lifted himself up slightly so she could wriggle them down lower. She looked up to find his blue eyes watching her hungrily, and she thought he might have been about to say something, but when she stroked him through the fabric of his underwear the words died on his lips. His eyes fell shut and he let out a heavy breath.

She skimmed her fingers down his length, then dragged her fingernails back up, making sure to graze the tip of his hardness. She tried her best to recreate the sensations he’d made her feel the other night, using delicate touches to tease him. His grip on her thighs tightened and his breathing became shaky. She couldn’t help the playful smile she shot him as she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his underwear and lowered it to free his rock-hard erection. The smile he returned stopped her for a second. It was so full of lust, surprise, desire, and… something else she couldn’t quite be sure of. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she reached for him and began to slowly stroke his cock. 

His head fell back against the workbench and he let out a deep, slow moan. She continued blindly moving her hand over him, unable to look away from his face. As she brushed over the leaking head, his mouth fell open and he let out a breathy whisper.

“_Arya_.”

She felt a wave of need flood through her at hearing her name fall from his lips. She’d never heard anyone speak her name so reverently. She felt something else spark in her too, but she couldn’t name the feeling.

The desire radiating from him seemed to intensify, and Arya gradually increased the speed of her movements. She swiped her thumb over his tip with each stroke, twisting her hand around him as she moved. Gendry alternated between looking at her with dark, greedy eyes, and squeezing his eyes shut at the pleasure she was bringing him.

Arya shuffled closer to him and reached her other hand down to gently touch his balls. He tensed and reached a hand up to hold the back of her neck. His other hand wrapped around her lower back and he pulled her body closer to his, as close as he could while still allowing room between them for her hands to move.

“This okay?” she quietly asked, as she took a firmer hold of his balls and teased them in her hand.

“Very okay.” His voice came out in a low growl and Arya hummed with desire at the sound.

“Tell me if you want me to do something differently, yeah?”

“Arya,” he said again. She really wasn’t used to her name sounding that good. “You’re perfect. This is...” He moaned, unable to complete the thought.

She sped up her movements, rubbing him as quickly as her hand could manage, trying to maintain the friction and bring him over the edge. His hand at her neck pulled her down to rest her forehead against his. She could feel his muscles tightening beneath her and felt his fingers digging into her skin. He groaned sharply, and his breathing turned to panting.

“Ar– Arya, I’m–” He let out a low, rough grunt, and another, as his seed spilled over Arya’s fingers and onto his bare stomach. She didn’t move, her hand stilling around him, as she waited for his orgasm to roll through him.

He collapsed back against the workbench and drew in several deep breaths. Arya twisted off him to sit on the floor, and Gendry’s arm slipped around her shoulder to pull her to his side. She rested her sticky hand on his stomach, figuring he’d have to clean himself up anyway. She wasn’t quite ready to lose contact with him just yet. They sat quietly for several minutes as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

“I’ve never come that hard in my life,” he said.

“I know what you mean,” muttered Arya. He turned to look at her, eyebrows raising curiously. She nodded and gave a confirming smile, as she remembered the intensity of the orgasm he'd given her.

“Huh,” he said, sounding very pleased to have learned this.

They sat there for a long moment before he turned to look at her again. His expression seemed more serious as his eyes wandered over her face, pausing at her mouth. The hand on her shoulder moved up to cradle her head as he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

His lips were firm, but they moved gently against hers. It wasn’t heated or hungry, but she could feel an unmistakable passion in the way he kissed her. None of the boys she’d shared kisses with had ever made her feel like this. Just as Arya was about to find his tongue with her own, he broke away. He seemed somewhat surprised by his own actions, and he quickly removed his arm from around her.

“I’m just gonna...” He gestured to the cum drying on his stomach. She pulled back from him as he stumbled to his feet and looked for something to clean himself with. “There’s a sink in the corner if you...” He glanced over to her, but didn’t meet her eye.

She got to her feet and moved to the sink. As she washed his cum off her fingers, she tried desperately to think of something to say. She had thought it was a perfectly excellent kiss, but clearly something about it had unsettled Gendry.

She turned around to find him pulling his shirt back on and moving around to tidy up where he’d been working. She walked back over to the workbench to pack up her things, and put her discarded t-shirt back on. When she looked back to him, he was watching her. They both started to speak at the same time.

“I’m gonna go.”

“Sorry about–” he started. She wished she knew what he’d been about to say, but he quickly moved past it. “Oh, yeah, no problem. I’ve just gotta shut off the forge and then lock up.”

He seemed to have chosen to ignore the kiss. Determined not to feel disappointed, she picked up her bag and headed for the door.

“It was nice,” he said suddenly. Her hand stilled on the doorknob, and she turned back around. “Having you here, I mean. It was nice having company.”

“Yeah, I had fun,” she said, and she meant it. The smile he gave her was somewhat shy.

“And the rest was nice, too.”

“Yeah, it was,” she laughed quietly. He nodded, looking reassured. “See ya, Gendry.” 

He held up a hand to wave as she left.

_This is fine. We’re fine,_ she thought. And she would continue to tell herself it was fine until she believed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really hard for me to get right. After spending weeks looking at this story, it’s easy to lose touch with what I’m trying to get across. Comments telling me your impressions and thoughts about each chapter are so incredibly helpful and allow me to maintain a clearer perspective on the story. Please keep the feedback coming! You’re the absolute best, and I owe you all pigs.
> 
> Next Time:  
They get to know each other better, but Gendry thinks Arya might be working too hard.


	8. Stress Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry tries to help Arya when her workload becomes too much to manage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate everyone’s patience during the long wait for this chapter. I was struggling to get it right, plus I had a series of real life complications that got in the way. You can rest assured that I have several more chapters that are just about finished, so updates will be more regular again.
> 
> Thanks to snapdragon76 for helping with this.
> 
> And a warning that this chapter contains mentions of sexual assault.
> 
> Previously:  
Arya and Gendry have been working well together. When Arya visited Gendry in the campus blacksmithing workshop, they found themselves falling together again, but an unexpected kiss confused them both.

His Business Studies professor droned on about the role of the Iron Bank in shaping modern investment practices, but Gendry was only half listening. For the past several days he’d found his thoughts almost constantly absorbed by the memory of kissing Arya Stark.

He hadn’t been able to help himself when he kissed her. The look in her eyes after she’d given him an insanely good orgasm had overwhelmed him, and he’d been powerless to resist. He knew he shouldn’t have done it, knew that whatever was going on between them, that kind of gentle intimacy wasn’t part of it. Thankfully, he’d stopped himself before he could get carried away. She hadn’t seemed to mind, though, and had graciously let him avoid any embarrassment by ignoring the moment.

After the first time they hooked up, Arya had mentioned that she felt uncomfortable about the imbalance between them. Gendry figured that their most recent encounter meant they were even now. He couldn’t assume it had been about anything more than that, and he certainly couldn’t assume it would happen again. He had to be fine with it either way. If she wanted things to continue, great. If not… well, he’d just have to deal with that. He had no fucking clue what Arya might be thinking, and honestly, he didn’t know what to think himself. All he knew was that the more time he spent with her, the harder it was to think about anything else.  


—

  
When Gendry walked out of the lecture theatre he saw Arya standing in the middle of the hallway. She either didn’t notice the roadblock she was causing, or didn’t care. She was more concerned with her frenzied search through the large stack of notes she was carrying. He heard her curse under her breath when she was unable to find whatever she was looking for.

“Lost something?” he asked cautiously. She looked up with a scowl, no doubt ready to snap at whoever had dared to intrude on her already bad day, but when she registered that it was Gendry who had spoken, her face softened.

“Hi,” she sighed. He noticed there were dark circles under her eyes, and her skin looked pale.

“You look…”

“Don’t even say it, I know I’m a mess,” she said. He wanted to object but she carried on. “You haven’t come across a print-out about Indonesian shadow puppetry, have you?”

“I… don't think so?”

“I have to find it. I’m way behind on my ethnography.”

“I’ll double check through my stuff.”

“Thanks,” she said, as she moved to pass him.

“We’re still meeting at four?” he asked. She spun back to face him with a panicked look.

“Oh… Uh, yeah. Of course.”

“If you need to–”

“No, it’s fine. I’d forgotten, but I’ll make it work,” she said with a nod. She looked like she was trying to convince him, though she may have been trying to reassure herself, too.

“See you then.”

“Bye,” she called, as she wove through the flock of students in the hall.  


—

  
Gendry was checking his existing work against their newer sources when Arya finally arrived at the library. She placed an armful of textbooks and notes onto the table — seemingly the reference materials for all of her classes — and dropped her heavy bag on to the chair beside her, all while chewing on the same bottom lip he’d spent a significant portion of the day thinking about. She looked exhausted, and Gendry was starting to see why.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Fine, yeah… just, uhh…” She shook her head, trying to find the words. Eventually she let out a long sigh and gave up.

“We really don’t have to work on this today if you have a lot going on,” he said. Arya thought about it for a moment before answering.

“I’ll be okay. It’s just… I don’t know why, but this whole project seems harder all of a sudden. I was feeling so good about it last week. We were really on a roll, and now…”

“I know what you mean. For some reason, I’ve hit a roadblock on every part.” He gave her a sympathetic smile.

“I know it shouldn’t make me feel better that we’re both having trouble with it, but strangely it does,” she chuckled. They were quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “I think I’ll go grab a coffee. Try to clear my head for a few minutes. Then I might be able to focus.”

“Yeah, no worries. Take your time.”

“You want anything?”

“Nah, if I have a coffee now I’ll be up all night.” She nodded and grabbed her wallet, leaving her mountain of books to keep him company.

Gendry started searching for something that might help them with the tricky parts of their assignment, and tried to get Arya’s face out of his head long enough to get something done. At least one thing had become clear to him: Arya was too busy to let the kiss bother her. He was glad that it wasn’t going to become a _thing_ between them. It was obvious that she had plenty of work she needed to focus on, and he figured he should try to do the same.

It was over half an hour later when Arya returned, though it didn’t exactly seem like the break had helped her. If anything, she was looking more strung-out.

“Good coffee?”

“The first half was,” she said. “The second half is on the grass outside the Visual Arts building.”

“Ahh. Some idiot?”

“On a skateboard.”

“I’m sorry. Wow, it’s really not your day, is it?”

“Apparently not. Although throwing his skateboard in the bushes did make me feel a bit better.” Gendry smiled at the mental image. “I’ve just got a lot of work due at the moment. One of those busy patches, but I’m sure it’ll settle down soon.” She gave him a tired smile as she sunk heavily into the chair.

“Does this have to do with the shadow puppets?” he asked.

“Those damn shadow puppets,” she said with a soft laugh. “I found that print-out, by the way. It was in the freezer.”

“Late night study break involving ice cream?”

“How–”

“I did that once, in first year.”

“Thank God it’s not just me!” Arya started to half-heartedly flip through her notebook. “So, have you found some magical way to get us past the things we’re stuck on?” she asked, sounding less than hopeful.

“I’ve got a few possibilities. It’ll just take some time to search for the right information,” he told her. Then an idea occurred to him. “Why don’t you let me worry about the assignment for now, and you can focus on your ethnography. Might be a better use of your time. Then, when you’ve got a bit less on your plate, you can make sure I haven’t screwed it up too badly.” He was trying to make her laugh, but apparently she was too pre-occupied for it to register. Gendry watched as Arya considered it, her thoughts playing out on her face. He could tell she wanted to agree to his suggestion, but he knew that she wasn’t the type of person who found it easy to admit when they were struggling.

“That would be a big help. I really appreciate it.” She let out a relieved sigh as she smiled at him. He was surprised at how easily she accepted the idea. She was trusting him to help her, and he knew that wasn’t nothing.

“Wow, those things are really creepy,” said Gendry, as Arya pulled out the pages about Indonesian shadow puppets.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve had nightmares.”  


—

  
After a couple of hours of working in companionable silence, Gendry looked over at Arya, who was propping her head up with her hands and massaging her temples with her index fingers. He could see the tension in her shoulders, and noticed her forehead was creased between her brows. For a moment he was tempted to reach out and touch her arm, or find some way to comfort her, but he settled for trying to encourage her instead.

“Are the puppets behaving?” he asked.

Arya sighed as she answered. “I’m managing to bend them to my will. Luckily it’s not worth very much of my mark, but I still want to do well on it, you know?” Gendry nodded. “How about…” She gestured vaguely at the papers he had spread across the desk. “Is it going okay?”

“Yeah, better,” he lied. He’d been struggling to find any useful information about marriage alliances between the prominent families of Westeros, but that wasn’t something he wanted her stressing about right now. “I’ve got a few more ideas for the first part of section four. If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep working on it. I promise it’s still your section though. I’ll just try to save you some time.”

“I don’t want to dump it all on you just because I’m busy with other stuff,” she said, seeing through him.

“It’s fine.” He hoped he could convince her before this became an argument. “You ended up helping me with my section, so it’s only fair that I try to help you with yours. And there’ll be plenty left to do when you’ve had a chance to get on top of everything else.” He could see her hesitating, but when she looked back down at the photos of the skeletal puppets in front of her, it seemed she was finally swayed.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, giving him a look softer than any he could remember seeing from her. “Do you want to meet up again in a couple of days? I’m handing this in on Wednesday, so I can start being useful again after that.” She gave him a self-deprecating smirk.

“Sounds good,” he replied, deciding that now wasn’t the time to start gushing about how much incredible work she had already contributed. “And… let me know if I can help. With anything else.”

“Thanks.”

As he watched her trying to squeeze her notes into her already over-stuffed bag, he wished he knew what he could do to help her. But maybe for now, the offer of help was enough.  


**—:—:—**

  
Arya walked briskly across campus on Wednesday, enjoying the heat of the midday sun on her skin. In one arm she juggled a precarious pile of books, while her other hand clutched an extra large energy drink. She figured she’d need all the fuel she could get if she was going to make it through the work she had to do today. As if her current to-do list wasn’t long enough already, Professor Tarth had prescribed her Essosi Lit class another text to read. It did look quite interesting, but it would have to wait until she’d done some more work on the History assignment. She was grateful for Gendry’s offer to help her out, but she was going to make sure she still did her fair share of the work. She didn’t want to stretch their tentative friendship too far.

As she climbed the sandstone steps of the library, Arya realised she would have to finish the last of her energy drink before she could go inside. She rested her heap of books on the intricate stone balustrade as she gulped down several mouthfuls, taking a moment to look out over the lush, green lawn in front of the building. There were plenty of people around, though she noticed that many of them seemed to be moving at a more relaxed pace than usual, no doubt enjoying the pleasant weather. Some had even set themselves up under a tree to study outside. If she and Gendry didn’t require so much space to spread out their work, she’d be tempted to suggest they do the same. She hadn’t been able to get outside much, thanks to her recent busyness, so she tried to make the most of the short walks between her apartment, her classes, and the library, as well as brief moments like this one.

Arya took one last sip of her drink, and could feel the buzz kicking in. She tossed the empty can in the bin, and tried not to feel jealous of all the happy, calm students enjoying their day as she pushed open the ornate door.

The good thing about the library was that it had lots of large windows on all sides, allowing the sunlight to stream in. She could easily spot Gendry’s large frame sitting at one of the central tables, his biceps bulging out of the slightly-too-tight shirt he was wearing. She noticed he’d let a hint of stubble grow on his chin in a way she found very appealing. She may not have been able to enjoy sitting outside today, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have a nice view while she worked. He looked up as she approached the table and gave her a smile that was far more dazzling than it had any right to be.

“Hi,” he said brightly.

“Hey,” she replied, sounding more breathless than she would have liked.

“Gotten rid of the shadow puppets yet?”

“For now. I’ll have to revisit them when we’re given part two of the task,” Arya said regretfully. She hoped she would be more on top of things before she had to worry about that.

“What made you choose them for your ethnography?” he asked. She could see the genuine interest in his eyes.

“My first choice was stolen by the back-stabbing bitch, so I had to pick something that I knew would be enough to out-do her.”

“Ah, yes. I remember there were threats of grievous bodily harm. How’s that working out?”

“I haven’t resorted to violence yet,” she said with a wry smile. “I really am trying to be less… _reactive_ about things like that. Although I’m afraid that if I keep talking about that manipulative little–” Arya took a breath to stop herself from ranting. “I’m worried I’ll undo all the personal growth I’ve been working so hard on.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” said Gendry, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Still smiling, he handed her a wad of printed material. She flicked through the pages and found several academic articles about how notable marriages influenced the Royal Court during Bran’s reign. At the bottom of the pile was a list of dot points summarising the key observations of the papers. This was a huge amount of research, and Arya could tell he’d put a lot of effort into it. It took her a moment to work out what to say, as she was overcome with a wave of gratitude for the man sitting across from her.

“This must have taken you ages.”

“Oh, yeah. It did,” he said, his eyebrows raising as he nodded. Arya couldn’t help feeling guilty at how much work he’d done, especially when it should have been her responsibility. Her face must have shown her thoughts, because Gendry hurried to reassure her. “Oh, no! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about it. I really didn’t mind doing it. I’m just glad you didn’t have to spend all that time on it when you had other things to worry about. Besides,” he added, “isn’t this what partners do?” Arya felt a smile creep over her face at his words.

“Well… thanks. I really appreciate this, Gendry,” she said, looking over the research again. “Hopefully I can find a way to return the favour.”

Her head snapped up, and she was mentally kicking herself for her choice of words. She was instantly disarmed by his cheeky smile and his easy response.

“Pretty sure you already did.”

Arya froze for a moment, then let out a surprised giggle. She should have known he’d find a way to put her at ease. He always made her feel comfortable — at least when he wasn’t making her terribly distracted. It came as a significant relief to Arya that they didn’t have to tiptoe around the sexually charged elephant in the room. She was also glad that his flirtatious comments no longer sent her reeling, though the heat low in her belly reminded her that his words still had a distinct effect on her.

Somehow, despite her busy schedule, her growing workload, and her overconsumption of energy drinks, Arya felt more content than she had in days. She felt calm around Gendry. Something about his quiet, stable presence was good for her, helped her get out of her own head. As she opened her laptop and got to work on developing the notes he’d given her, the hint of a smile remained on her lips.  


—

  
Arya’s ability to concentrate lasted for quite a while, even as the effects of the energy drink began to shift, making her feel wired, rather than focused. When she glanced up and caught sight of Gendry licking his lips, she felt decidedly less attentive, and noticed her heart rate increasing rapidly. Although she reasoned that the caffeine may have had something to do with that.

She watched as a little pout formed on his mouth as he read. He unconsciously pressed the end of his pen into his plump bottom lip, occasionally removing it to make a note of something, then bringing it right back, seemingly to torment her. Arya couldn’t help feeling it was unfair that he’d only given her the briefest taste of those lips before he’d pulled them back out of her reach. She hadn’t been able to work out what had prompted the kiss, but she certainly wasn’t brave enough to ask him. Unfortunately that hadn’t stopped her from thinking about that moment. A lot.

She knew she had to stop looking at him, knew she’d been staring at him for far too long to be casual. When Gendry lifted his head, she immediately darted her eyes down, hoping he hadn’t caught her. She thought she might have gotten away with it, though she could sense his eyes lingering on her.

Arya tried to pull her focus back to the information he’d given her. She still couldn’t quite believe he’d found exactly what she needed. She’d almost finished a first draft of her response to section four, but as she tried to read over what she’d written, she could tell that Gendry hadn’t yet turned his attention from her. She flicked her own eyes to his, expecting him to look away, but he didn’t. He just kept watching her with a curious expression. She gave him a polite, if slightly awkward smile, and looked back down at her screen. She started to feel unsettled under his gaze, though not necessarily in a bad way.

“Whatever you’re thinking about, you’re doing it very loudly,” she said with a pointed eyebrow. Gendry chuckled at her. She locked eyes with him again and gave him an expectant look. “Go on, spit it out.”

“What do you do on Tuesday nights?” Arya’s brows shot up in surprise at his question. _That’s what he’s been thinking about? _“You've been all mysterious about it since the beginning and I’m dying to know.”

“Didn't realise you were so intrigued,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

“C’mon, what is it?”

“It’s not even that interesting.”

“Arya, just tell me.”

“Not like I’m in a cult or something juicy.”

“Please, I have to know. What is the Super Secret Tuesday Night stuff you get up to?”

She looked at him more closely then. She could see the curiosity sparkling in his eyes. It wasn’t something she told many people about, but after all this time, and everything that had happened between them, she felt like she could trust him with this part of herself.

“I run self defence classes at the campus gym,” she said quietly. He seemed to ponder her answer for a moment before he responded.

“So, when I waited with you outside Tarly Building so you wouldn’t be in the bad part of campus alone, at night… you really didn’t need me to do that.”

“No. I really didn’t,” she said, trying not to laugh at him.

“You would have been just fine on your own.”

“Yep.”

“Huh.” A funny look came over his face. This was not how she’d expected this conversation to go.

“What?” she finally asked. He met her eyes with barely concealed glee before answering.

“And you let me wait with you anyway.”

“So?”

“So are we BFFs now?”

“What?” Arya asked, giving him an impatient look. She didn’t know what he was on about, but she could sense the teasing in his voice.

“C’mon. Arya Stark willingly let someone try to help her without proclaiming all the ways in which she is fiercely independent and can manage just fine on her own? I’ve never seen you be that nice to anyone,” he said, his words drowning in mirth.

“Oh my God, you’re so stupid,” she groaned. “Will you stop grinning?”

“No way, bestie.”

“Stop it.”

“What should our matching tattoos be?”

“I’m ignoring you now,” she said, rolling her eyes at him. He finally relented. As she tried to return her attention to the work in front of her, Arya couldn’t help the little smile that found its way to her lips.  


—

  
As the afternoon rolled on, Gendry worked hard on the project, but he couldn’t seem to shake the image of Arya teaching a self defence class. He was impressed that she was able to well and truly hold her own against anyone who might pose a threat, and thought it seemed like an appropriate hobby for someone with her… temperament. Knowing the way she tended to throw herself into things, he realised she was probably skilled enough to knock someone of Gendry’s size on his ass. He knew he shouldn’t be turned on by it, but he was enthralled at the idea of Arya tackling him to the ground. He also found it strangely reassuring that she was so much stronger than she looked.

_In more ways than one._

Gendry highlighted some new information about the competing religious beliefs of the age, but somewhere in the back of his mind, between the blurring lines of yellow ink, and his unfading mental image of Arya kicking ass, he could feel half a thought forming. He tried to ignore it and focus on his task, but eventually enough pieces came together, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from mentioning it.

“Can I ask you about something?” he said, hoping he wasn’t stepping into quicksand.

“Suuure,” Arya replied slowly, not really giving him her full attention

“That night you came by the pub and got all pissy about how much alcohol we were serving, and you mentioned those women would be easier targets for sexual assault…”

Arya’s shoulders went rigid. He could tell she was listening now, and that she knew exactly what he was trying to ask. She didn’t look up when she answered.

“Four of the women in my self defence class were assaulted,” she said. “Half of the others know someone who was.” Gendry was quiet as he let this information sink in. He could tell that this was something Arya cared deeply about, and he couldn’t help wondering how she’d become involved in the first place. He desperately hoped she wasn’t among the four, but from the shadow that crossed her face, he suspected she may have been in the half who knew a victim.

He realised that on top of having the physical skills needed to teach a class like that, Arya’s compassion and generous nature would be vitally important to the role. She was capable of giving people the help they needed, without making them feel weak. He imagined she would be great at instilling others with some of the confidence she so readily possessed.

“It’s a really good thing, teaching that class,” he said seriously. “It’s good that you do it.”

“Someone has to.”

“I mean it. It’s–”

“Yeah, no, I know. I don’t mean _‘it’s a tough gig, but someone has to do it’_. I’m saying it’s absolutely essential that classes like that are available. We have to help people keep themselves safe, and I’m glad I can share what I know to make it possible.” Gendry could see the pride in her eyes as she spoke. He smiled warmly at her and turned back to his computer for a moment, before another thought occurred to him.

“Do you have flyers?” he asked. “With information about the class?”

“Yeah, we post them on the noticeboards in all the faculties.”

“Can you get me some to put up in the pub? You know, in the bathroom stalls and stuff?” Arya looked at him, surprised by the request.

“Yeah. Yeah, definitely I can,” she nodded.

“Good.”

“That’d be… Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

He remembered Arya saying that if he wasn’t part of the solution, he was part of the problem. At least, that’s what she’d meant to say before she got her words muddled up. He knew putting up flyers wasn’t much, but it was _something_.

Arya pulled him from his thoughts when she spoke again. “I shouldn’t have said all that. That night at the pub. I shouldn’t have accused you of… It’s just something that’s always at the back of my mind. After hearing some of the stories from the women in the class, I can’t help but be on the lookout for it all the time. Even when it’s not there.”

Gendry didn’t know what to say, so he reached across the table to rest his fingers on the back of her hand for a moment, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. He tried to convey that it was behind them, to show that he understood, even though he knew he would probably never understand what it was like to see the world that way.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m so stressed right now,” Arya said. Gendry reluctantly pulled his hand back as she continued. “The gym wants me to teach a second class. And I want to say yes, of course I do. But I really can’t fit it in, and they haven’t been able to find anyone else.”

“Can’t the university hire someone professionally?”

“You’d think so, given the increasing demand, but so far they haven’t approved any of the requests. One of the girls has just written another strongly worded email.”

“Is that gonna make a difference?” Gendry asked sceptically.

“It will when she prints out a few hundred copies to stick all over the front of the administration office,” said Arya, with a confident arch of her eyebrow.

“_Please_ tell me when that’s happening so I can go see it for myself.”

“Hah! Okay. I’ll bring the popcorn.”

It felt like it had been a long time since he’d seen her looking like her usual, happy self, rather than only a few stressful days, but he realised now how much he had missed seeing her smile.  


—

  
Gendry was about to shut down his computer at the end of their study session when an email notification came through from Professor Lannister. He skimmed over it quickly.

“Lannister’s giving everyone the next few classes off so we can work on our projects. I guess he’s realised that a lot of students are really struggling with it,” he informed Arya.

“Well, apparently that includes us. We probably shouldn’t have been so cocky about it last week,” she said with a self-deprecating eye roll.

“Nah, we’re on our way to having this under control again,” he said, in an effort to reassure her. He was really looking forward to the self-assured, confident Arya returning in a hurry. He didn’t think he was very good at being the steady one. “Hey, I’m sure this is for the benefit of, you know… other, less organised students. We’re good at making time to work on it. And since we’re definitely going to be fine—” he gave her a pointed look to reinforce the point, “—I think we should both take the time on Friday that we’d usually be in class, and just… I dunno. Take a break. Do something fun.”

She looked at him sceptically for a moment before she seemed to warm to the idea.

“Yeah, that’s not a completely terrible idea,” she said teasingly. “I’ll see if Sansa’s got anything on. Maybe I can talk her into trying out the new rock climbing place or something. I’ll probably have to agree to get our nails done afterwards…” Arya seemed to have drifted into thinking out loud. He’d hoped she might have picked up on the suggestion that they could do something fun _together_, but he realised now that she probably didn’t want to spend any more time with him. They already saw a lot of each other, after all. 

_And it’s still not enough_, he thought before he could help it.

“Thanks again for these notes. You did an amazing job with them,” Arya said, bringing him back to the moment.

“Oh, yeah. No problem.”

“We’ll get together again late next week, then?”

“Sure. I’ll text you.”

“Great. Well, enjoy your free Friday afternoon,” she said brightly, as she stood to leave.

“You too,” he said with a weak smile. Now that he wouldn’t be seeing Arya again for almost a week, he suddenly felt a lot less interested in the free time he’d been granted.  


**—:—:—**

  
Gendry’s flat wasn’t anything special. With his school fees taken care of by the scholarship, his foster parents had been able to help him afford rent in an old building near campus. It was a little one-bedroom place, away from any of the noisy quads or popular hangout spots. All of his neighbours were quiet and minded their own business, which suited Gendry well. He was happy to have a place to himself after years of moving around to different foster homes as a child, where he’d usually have to share a room, or even a bed, with some other kid. Here, he had a bedroom that was almost as big as the rest of the flat, with a large, inviting bed. He could fit a desk by the window, and there was an ensuite bathroom with a large shower that could accommodate someone as tall and as broad as Gendry. He was as comfortable here as he’d been back home with Davos and Marya, and although he missed the commotion of having various foster kids (and a few foster pets) coming and going, he certainly enjoyed the privacy.

He didn’t have much in the way of decorations, apart from a collage of photos that Marya had made for him, and a framed football jersey signed by his favourite player, Bronn Blackwater. When he was moving in, Davos had surprised him with some brightly coloured plates and glasses, saying that when Gendry inevitably left his dirty dishes lying around, the place would be livened up by all the colour. Marya had been too busy laughing to remind him yet again that he’d need to clean up after himself now that he was living alone.

The kitchen was small, but had enough room for the limited amount of cooking he did. One of the countertops wrapped around, separating the kitchen from the rest of the room. A couple of barstools turned the counter into a place to eat, which was lucky because he couldn’t have fitted a table and chairs. There was enough room for a decent-sized couch, big enough for him, Pod and Hot Pie to all fit when they occasionally got together to watch a sporting event of some kind.

On Friday afternoon, Gendry was lounging around on said couch in his most comfortable clothes, playing video games and snacking on a family-sized bag of potato chips. It wasn’t a thrilling use of his free time, and it certainly wasn’t productive, but at least it didn’t have anything to do with his classes, or the project. He could only hope Arya was doing something equally as relaxing. She needed the break a lot more than he did.

As if the mere thought had summoned her, his phone lit up with a message from Arya. He didn’t bother pausing the game in his haste to read it, not caring in the slightest as his character met a grizzly death.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Are you at home?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Yeah, why?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Can I please, please, please come and use your shower?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Umm, sure? I’m in the big brown building on Steel Street. The one with the ugly yellow door. You know it?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _OMG thank you. I know the one. Be there in 5._ **

She was coming here. To his cramped, little apartment. To use his shower.

The image of Arya, naked in his shower caused an immediate reaction. He wasn’t exactly proud of himself for letting his mind indulge in the fantasy of joining her, though he couldn’t say he was at all surprised by his instant arousal. He didn’t have time to deal with the situation in the way he would have liked, so instead he switched off the video game, moved to quickly tidy up a bit, and tried to find something incredibly dull to look at on his phone until she arrived.  


**—:—:—**

  
Arya knocked on Gendry’s door a bit too forcefully. She couldn’t help it. She was just so wound up, and everything seemed to be going wrong today.

Gendry answered the door in a loose grey t-shirt and soft, dark pants, the kind that were perfect for curling up on the couch. His hair was mussed, and for all the world he could have just woken up. Nothing about his appearance did anything to help her already frazzled state.

His eyes widened when he took in her sweaty workout gear and flushed cheeks, but he covered his surprise at her appearance with a bright smile. He ushered her inside, where she promptly dropped her heavy gym bag on the floor and went to his fridge to help herself to a bottle of cold water. After several big gulps she placed the bottle on the counter and turned to Gendry.

“I worked up more of a sweat walking over here than I did at the gym, I swear!”

“Why are you here, exactly?” he asked.

“Oh God, I’ve had the worst day!” He gave her an apologetic look and pulled out a chair for her at the kitchen counter, then leaned against the fridge to listen. “So, I had another paper due for my Anthro class, which I only finished this morning, and then the printer jammed when I tried to print it out, so by the time I sorted it, I was running late for the class, and my teacher already hates me so I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting a very good mark for it.” Arya paused for breath before continuing.

“Then, in Essosi Lit we were doing an exercise in pairs, which, by the way, you were right. With the possible exception of our project, partnered assignments do universally suck.” Gendry nodded solemnly. “So I was stuck with this guy who just stared at my boobs the whole time. Not something I handle well at the best of times, and I certainly wasn’t having it today. So then I had to stay behind to explain to Professor Tarth why I’d kicked him in the nuts, although luckily she’s a raging feminist beast of a woman and ended up giving me a high five.”

“An appropriate response,” commented Gendry.

“I agree. Anyway, this afternoon I did a really intense aerobics class at the gym, and I probably went a bit too hard, but I was desperate to let out some of my frustration. Unfortunately, Friday afternoon is when both the women’s water polo _and_ field hockey teams train, and then they all use the showers at the gym, and it’s a nightmare. So I would usually just go home to shower. No problem, right? Wrong! Because our hot water has been cutting in and out, so we had a plumber come take a look, and he was supposed to be done hours ago but instead our water is still off, leaving me with no one to turn to but you, and dear God, save me from this day!” Arya’s head landed against the counter with a _thud_.

“Holy shit,” he said. “So much for taking some time out to do something fun.”

“That dream died a while ago.” Arya’s voice was somewhat muffled with her face pressed up against the laminate.

“Well, I think a hot shower is the least I can offer you.”

“I appreciate it,” she said as she sat up.

“The bathroom is off the bedroom, just through here,” Gendry pointed. “The blue towel is clean, you can use that.”

“You’re amazing, I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, and Arya wasn’t sure if he realised the significance of his words. Just because she got herself in a flurry every time she was close to him, didn’t mean the same was true for him.

“Oh, uh, yeah I guess we established that, didn’t we,” Arya joked awkwardly. When she saw Gendry’s eyes widen at the comment, she desperately wished she hadn’t. “Okay, great, thank you!” she babbled as she scurried into the bathroom to escape the awkward moment.  


—

  
Arya stepped out of the shower with the smell of Gendry’s soap still clinging to her. She had always liked the musky fragrance when she’d noticed it on him, on those occasions when he’d leaned across her to grab a document he needed, or brushed up against her when he held the door for her. But now Arya wondered how she was going to sleep tonight with the scent of him surrounding her. She wriggled into her clean clothes and tried to push the thought from her mind.

She had been feeling a little calmer as she let the hot water run over her aching muscles, but as she left the bathroom, she saw Gendry’s broad back curled over his laptop at the desk in his room. She started to feel a different kind of tension building.

“Feeling better?” he asked her with a warm smile.

“Honestly, I don’t have time to feel better,” she said, feeling all kinds of frustrated. “I wanted to try and listen to a recording of a lecture the Crownlands Historical Society presented about King Bran last year. Thought there might be some good information in it that we could use. Plus there’s an alumni networking event on tonight that my parents think Sansa and I should attend, even though the thought of talking about myself to a bunch of old, elitist, corporate types makes my skin crawl. _Ugh_.” She shuddered.

“Jesus, Arya, that’s a lot to fit in tonight.” Gendry’s brow furrowed in concern. “You could leave the lecture, we’ve made some good progress, so there’s plenty of time for you to watch it later. And the networking… Can’t you blow it off? You look like you just need some time to relax.”

“Believe me I’d love to, but as graceful and composed as Sansa is, she still finds these things pretty anxiety-inducing. She’d never insist, but she’ll appreciate it if I’m with her. But, yeah… I guess I can listen to the lecture another time.”

“Okay, good. The event’s not until later?”

“It’s at eight,” she said.

“Well, why don’t you hang out here for a while, and we could watch a cheesy movie, and you can just chill out for a bit.” Arya was touched by his thoughtfulness.

“I’d like to,” she said sincerely, “but I’ll just end up not being able to sit still, and that’ll drive you crazy, and…” She sighed. “Thanks, though.”

“Arya,” Gendry said seriously, as he stood up and walked over to her. “Look at you, you’re exhausted, and stressed, and you’ve had a shitty day, and you’re _still_ trying to do more. You’ve gotta find a way to relax. This isn’t good for you.”

“It’s one bad day, I’ll get over it.”

“It’s not, Arya. You’ve been stretched thin all week.”

“So? Everyone’s busy.”

“And everyone takes a break from time to time!”

“If I try to take a break, I’ll spend the whole time thinking about all the things I should be doing, and then not only will I still have to do them, but I’ll have less time, too!” Arya said, her voice getting louder.

“Well, you’ve gotta find some way to switch off, or you’re gonna burn out.”

“Yeah? Well, I can’t see how that’s gonna happen, so what do you want me to do?” she snapped.

Gendry watched her carefully for a moment, a dark look coming over his features. It was all well and good for him to tell her to just relax, but it wasn’t that easy. How was she supposed to–

“Take off your pants,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“What?!”

“Take off your pants,” he repeated.

“Seriously?!” she chuckled. He moved to her and started undoing her pants himself.

“Gendry, what are– What are you– Gendry, stop!” He paused and looked at her carefully.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked her directly. “If you want me to stop, I will. Otherwise, just let yourself relax. I’ll do the rest.” She noticed his jaw clench as he waited for her to answer.

“Don’t stop,” she said in a gravelly whisper.

At that, Gendry stepped closer to her and pushed her down onto the bed. She let out a surprised squeak, and felt her heart race as he roughly pulled off her jeans and underwear, and threw them aside. The assertiveness of his actions had taken her from zero to lusting in an instant. She could feel the wetness between her legs already, and he had barely even touched her.

He stopped to take in the sight of her lying there before him, letting him do what he wanted. She’d seen him get a hungry look in his eyes before, but this was something else. He looked like he wanted to consume every atom of her being, and she thought she just might let him.

He snapped back into action, kneeling at the foot of the bed, and reaching to grasp behind her knees. He yanked her firmly towards him so that she was positioned at the edge of the bed. Looking up, he waited until she locked eyes with him, then he slowly pushed her knees out to the sides, his rough fingers moving delicately over her soft skin.

Arya let out an involuntary whimper. She was trembling slightly, blaming the adrenaline and desire that was coursing through her. Gendry ran his hands up her thighs, pushing up her t-shirt and holding her around the waist.

“I got you,” he promised.

Arya nodded and closed her eyes as he lowered his head. He placed feather-light kisses along the inside of her right thigh, moving slowly upwards. He was just about to reach her core when he stopped and moved back to apply the same treatment to her left thigh. Arya let out a low moan, not caring if she made noise. She liked that she didn’t have to care, that they didn’t have to be secretive this time. Here, she could be as loud as she liked. And if Gendry continued to torture her like this, chances were, she would be loud.

His kisses gradually became hungrier, as he used his tongue to taste her skin, leaving little wet spots that became chilled in the cool air. His hands moved over her stomach, and hips, and thighs, and back to her stomach. His touch became firmer, as though he was having trouble stopping himself from rushing the experience. The slowness was both delicious and excruciating.

“More,” panted Arya. “_Oh, God._”

“You sure?” Gendry murmured against her skin.

“That’s a stupid question.” Gendry laughed, and the vibrations caused her to shiver.

“God, Arya, you are actually dripping wet.” She looked at his face. The desire she had seen there had somehow increased.

“Then stop fucking around.” She raised a pointed eyebrow at him, and the corner of his mouth twisted up in a sinful smirk.

“Whatever you say, m’lady.”

“Don’t call me– aaahhuhh!” She couldn’t help but cry out as Gendry darted his tongue out to brush against her swollen lips. His hand came up to cross over her stomach and hold her hips down, his fingers curling into her skin. He licked her again and again, a little deeper each time, drawing more sounds from her. He pressed his lips down to place long, open-mouthed kisses on her, his tongue swirling over her folds as he went.

Gendry shifted, moving to swing her knee over his shoulder to reach her more deeply. His mouth moved over her greedily, and his lips and nose and chin were all glistening with the taste of her. He couldn’t seem to get enough. It was messy and it was sexy and Arya never wanted it to end. He paused for a moment, resting his cheek against her inner thigh, his stubble scratching against the tender skin in a way that sent a chill up her spine.

“Fuck me, Arya, you taste so good,” he panted. Arya tried to form a coherent response, but she couldn’t think clearly. Instead, she reached for the hand that was grasping her hip and tangled her fingers in his.

He returned his lips to her throbbing pussy, and began to focus on her clit, flicking and sucking as her breathing became shallow and her muscles started to tense. She could feel herself creeping towards climax when Gendry hummed against her, sending shockwaves through her and bringing her orgasm crashing over her. 

Several loud cries escaped from her as she thrusted and bucked against his mouth. Her whole body was shaking with the force of it, and Gendry held her hips as steady as he could while she came down from the high.

“Fuck, Gendry, that was–” Arya gasped, her words cut off by the sudden stab of pleasure she felt as he sipped a finger into her, while continuing to devour her with his tongue. Clearly he wasn’t done with her yet, and she was quite happy to let him do as he pleased. She couldn’t remember feeling like this before. Like she was _adored_. The thought made her almost as dizzy as the first orgasm had, and she knew another one wouldn’t be far off.

Gendry grunted in frustration, finding it awkward using his left hand to pleasure her. Without letting his tongue leave her clit, he pulled his right hand from her grasp and felt around blindly with his left until he found hers to re-entwined their fingers. She felt a strange thrill at the slippery touch of her own juices on him. Feeling curious, she sat up slightly, and pulled their joined hands to her mouth to draw her tongue along his knuckles. 

Gendry was so surprised by her movements that he sat up to watch her. She met his gaze with hers as she slowly, seductively drew his wet finger into her mouth, sucking the length of it, tasting herself on him. A dazed, far away look took over Gendry’s face as he watched her, transfixed. Enjoying that she had turned the tables somewhat, Arya decided to make a show of it, licking and sucking his finger, moving it in and out of her mouth suggestively. She wanted to give him a hint of what she might do if she got her mouth around another part of his anatomy. She released his finger from her lips with a loud _pop_, and shot him a cocky smirk. That seemed to bring him back, the heavy lust returning to his eyes.

“You’re unbelievable,” he said, shaking his head at her with a wry smile.

“Believe it, baby,” Arya said with a raised eyebrow.

Gendry suddenly thrust two fingers deep inside her. She gave a surprised shriek at the sudden pleasure, and collapsed back onto the bed. Apparently he had decided to turn the tables right back in his favour. He squeezed her hand as he continued his quick thrusts, bending back down to recapture her clit with his tongue. Having learnt how much she liked it, Gendry softly hummed and moaned as he licked and kissed the throbbing bundle of nerves.

Arya’s cries became louder and her breathing became faster as she felt another orgasm building. Gendry curled and twisted his fingers, reaching so deep inside her she thought he might turn her inside out. He was pumping his fingers impossibly quickly, and she gripped his hand tighter as she approached the edge once again.

With every muscle in her body coiled tight, she suddenly burst apart with a high pitched wail. A fire melted through her, and Arya felt Gendry bite the soft flesh of her inner thigh, drawing a deep growl from her, as the waves of satisfaction rolled over her. She felt as though she couldn’t get any air into her lungs as she sucked in several deep breaths and willed her pounding heart to stay inside her chest. She was trembling all over, her muscles spent from the two shattering orgasms he’d drawn from her.

She felt Gendry crawl over to lay beside her, pulling her further up the bed. He tucked her against his chest and started rubbing gentle circles over her back. As her breathing evened out and her heart rate steadied, she felt an overwhelming calmness wash over her. She nuzzled her face against him, breathing in his warm scent, his comforting presence relaxing her.

Arya opened her eyes a few moments later and tilted her head up to look at him.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi?” he asked through a smile. Her brow furrowed at his tone. “Good sleep?”

“I was just enjoying the moment,” she said defensively.

“Arya, you’ve been out for like, forty minutes.”

“What? No. I was just–” Arya lifted herself up on her elbow. She noticed Gendry had thrown a blanket over her still-bare lower half. She looked back at him in surprise. “Oh my God, how did that happen?” Gendry gave a hearty laugh and pulled her back down to him. She tucked herself back against his chest and giggled.

“So,” he said, as he started playing with her hair in a very distracting way, “feeling any less stressed?” She could hear the cocky note in his voice, but chose to ignore it.

“Much less. I should listen to you more often.”

“Oh my God!”

“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes at him.

“Stop everything!”

“_So stupid_.”

“Someone document this historic moment!”

“I hate you so much,” Arya said, her voice full of affection. She moved to get up, but Gendry pulled her back to him. He held her tightly with her back pressed to his body.

“I’m gonna remind you of those words when it will be sure to piss you off you the most,” he said quietly into her ear. Arya let out a peal of laughter, and Gendry held her there, laughing with her. She didn’t want to leave him. But she knew, even though she was feeling much better about everything, she did still have to go to that stupid networking event. She slid her hand over his and held his wrist, her fingers lightly brushing over his skin.

“Gendry, I’m sorry, but I have to–”

“Yeah, no, of course.” He released his hold on her and sat up beside her.

Trying not to feel self-conscious, Arya set the blanket on the bed and reached down for her underwear and jeans. When she was dressed, she hastily combed her fingers through her hair and straightened out her t-shirt before she turned back to Gendry. She was taken aback by the expression he wore. He seemed content, but also somewhat sad, and she wondered if he was as reluctant for her to leave as she was to go.

She stepped forward to where he sat on the end of the bed and stood between his legs. She brought a hand up to his cheek and brushed her thumb across his lower lip. He closed his eyes at her touch.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Gendry gave a small nod, but didn’t speak.

She stroked his cheek once more before she turned to leave. She went back out to the kitchen to pick up her bag and quietly let herself out of the apartment. As she walked down the hall, she was determined to ignore the prickling feeling in her eyes, and the heavy weight that settled in her stomach as she walked away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don’t forget to leave kudos if you’re enjoying the story, and as always, leave a comment with any feedback, or maybe let me know what your favourite part has been so far. 
> 
> Next Time:  
Arya and Gendry spend more time together, and Arya goes to a party.


	9. Proximity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya and Gendry spend more time together, and Arya goes to a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
When Arya’s workload became too much to manage, Gendry found a way to help her relax.

****Arya breathed in the crisp evening air as she walked up the path to the campus gym. It was a relief to be able to get back to her normal routine after the past couple of weeks had been so stressful. Now that her workload was under control, she had time for a more balanced existence once again.

The smell of lemon-scented cleaning spray and the rhythmic beat of sneakers on a treadmill hit Arya when she entered the building. She grabbed her water bottle out of her gym bag and tucked her phone into the waistband of her cropped leggings, before shoving the bag in a locker. The gym was surprisingly small, considering the number of students who used it, although it did have several of each basic machine, as well as an area for weights. Arya passed through the main room to the seperate space at the back which had a large, open area for group classes. The room was big enough for everyone to move around comfortably, but small enough that she didn’t have to yell when she was instructing a class. She had only ever taught the self defence class, though, and she was looking forward to the different experience of running a boxing class tonight.

When Arya had gotten through the work she needed to do that afternoon more quickly than she expected, she hadn’t known what to do to fill the time before the class. She decided she might as well come down to the gym early and take the opportunity to stretch and warm up at a leisurely pace. It was nice to have more free time now that she wasn’t so overwhelmed. She’d been more relaxed and generally feeling a lot happier. She couldn’t deny that she was feeling this way almost entirely because of Gendry. Aside from the fact that that he’d actually managed to find a way to help her relax, he’d also taken on extra work for their assignment, without making her feel like she was letting him down. He really was a good… what? ‘Friend’ seemed inaccurate given the more intimate encounters they'd shared, but ‘project partner’ sounded too distant. She hadn’t come up with a way to define what he was to her, but whatever he was, he was a good one.

Arya sat down on the mats to start stretching, enjoying the gentle pull in her hamstring. As she was switching to the other side she felt her phone vibrate against her hip. She was only going to pull it out to mute her notifications so it wouldn’t go off during the class, but when she found a text from Gendry she couldn’t resist reading it.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _I’m still confused about the religious beliefs stuff. Can you please run through it with me again? (Sorry!)_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Don’t worry, it took me a while to get it, too. Only problem is that I’m filling in to run the boxing class tonight. If you can get to the gym before 6 I can go over it before it starts._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Thank you! I can be there in a few minutes._ **

Arya tossed her phone onto the floor beside her and tried to focus on her stretches. Unfortunately, the vivid blue colour of the mats reminded her of Gendry’s eyes, and she felt ridiculous at her inability to _get a fucking grip._ She really wished she didn’t get so worked up every time she so much as thought about him, but with the memories of what he’d made her feel the other night…

_Stop it._

She couldn’t afford to keep indulging her fantasies about him. She got carried away too easily when it came to Gendry.

It had been awkward enough when she’d had to find some explanation for her drastically improved mood to satisfy Sansa. It hadn’t escaped her sister’s notice that she’d been enjoying herself at the networking event, when only a few hours earlier Sansa had seen how stressed she was. She bumbled out a weak response, but was thankfully saved by another guest who struck up a conversation with them just in time.

She didn’t know what she would have said if she’d been pressed for a real answer. There was obviously something going on between her and Gendry, but trying to figure it out seemed like something that was better left until the project was done. She just had to hope they could both keep their cool for that long.  
  


—

  
Gendry arrived a short time later looking ridiculously fit. He’d obviously hurried to get there as fast as he could, judging by the flush in his cheeks, and the quick rise and fall of his chest. The exertion suited him. Arya watched him for a moment longer, before getting his attention and waving him over to the back room. She took a moment to compose herself as he crossed the gym floor to her. It was truly a miracle she was able to get anything done with him around.

“Thank you for this,” said Gendry.

“No problem,” Arya replied, as she checked the time on her phone. They still had a little while before the class started to go over his questions. She guided him to sit beside her, their backs resting against one of the mirrors that lined the walls of the room.

Gendry opened his laptop, and Arya had to suppress a chuckle when she saw that his notes consisted of only a few dot points and a lot of question marks. She tried to focus on explaining the material to him clearly, and not on the fact that her entire right side was brushing up against him.  
  


—

  
“Ohhh,” he said, as he finally made sense of what she was saying, “I forgot about the fire guys!”

“Yeah,” she laughed, “they really stirred some shit up.”

Arya looked up as the first few students drifted into the room.

“Okay. I think I’ve got it now.” Gendry gave her an affirming nod. “I’ll have another go and send it to you to make sure it’s right,” he said, closing his laptop. Suddenly filled with a wave of confidence, Arya put a hand on his arm to stop him from getting up, but pulled it back almost immediately. She ignored the jolt she felt at the direct contact and pressed on.

“If you want…” she started. _Is this a terrible idea?_

“What?” he asked, meeting her eyes with his endless blue ones.

_Probably, but fuck it._

“You can work on it here if you like, then when I pair everyone off, I can read over what you’ve got.” She watched his eyebrows raise and thought he might decline the offer, but then he nodded.

“If you’re sure you don’t mind. And if they don’t mind.” He gestured to the class.

“This is mostly just a social class. They’ll enjoy having someone to show off for,” Arya said. She decided she wouldn’t mind having someone to show off for, either. “That is, if you don’t mind working here,” she added as she stood.

“I don’t mind. Maybe I’ll learn some moves.”

“Oh, you can’t handle these moves,” Arya said, as she sauntered away from him.

Arya plugged her phone into the sound system and started a playlist that was peppy and upbeat. Usually, she would be demonstrating manoeuvres and correcting stances, so it was hard to have any music on. Since she was only filling in for tonight’s class, she wouldn’t need to do much more than call out instructions and keep the energy high.

Tonight she could have some fun.

“Alright, let’s start with some stretches,” she said to the class. “Don’t mind the spectator in the corner. That’s just my partner for an assignment who came by with a question. Don’t worry, he’s not here to ogle you all.”

“So he’s just here to ogle you then?” teased a girl in the back. Arya snapped her eyes to Gendry and caught him staring.

“You can only stay if you work!” she warned playfully, with a stern point of her finger thrown in for good measure.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, and Arya felt flushed at the cocky grin he wore.

Despite having already stretched, Arya joined the rest of the class in their movements. Thanks to all the mirrors around the room, she could still see Gendry’s reflection as she faced the class. He had opened his computer again, but his eyes remained on her. She managed to suppress an eye-roll, but couldn’t resist putting a little more _oomph_ into her lunges.

“Good,” she said as they finished stretching. “Myranda tells me you have a regular warm up routine?” Several students nodded. Arya moved to turn the music up. “Show me what you’ve got, ladies.” There were a few giggles, and when she looked up she realised there was one man in the back of the class. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said with a shrug, clearly used to being lumped in with the rest of the class.

As they began their warm up, Arya glanced over to where Gendry was sitting and saw that he was at least attempting to concentrate. With the loud music and all the movement in the room, she realised now that suggesting he stay there to work had been a pretty dumb idea. If he could actually manage to get something done, she would be very impressed. And if not… well, she didn’t mind putting on a show.  
  


—

  
“Move in time with the music,” Arya called, as she directed the class. “Jab, cross, jab, bob, hook. Again!”

She moved around the room observing the students’ techniques, occasionally offering a suggestion, or encouraging someone to push themselves further.

“Harder! And! Faster!” She yelled, punctuating her words with a clap after each one. She looked over to where Gendry was sitting, and when she noticed him watching her, she decided he could do with some motivation, too. “Less watching, more working!” she barked at him, earning amused laughter from the class. He smiled, but didn’t make any effort to look away from her. She held his gaze for a moment before she called out another combination of moves.

When she had divided the class into pairs to spar with gloves and pads, Arya went to kneel beside Gendry to see what he’d been able to achieve.

“Huh,” she said in an appraising tone. “So, in the last twenty minutes you’ve written… three lines?”

“This is not a very good working environment, Arya. I’m doing the best I can, despite the distractions I’m facing.”

“Heroic of you,” she said, without any sympathy.

“You know it’s insanely hot, right?”

“What is?” she asked distractedly, as she glanced back at the class.

“You. Being in charge.”

“Really…” She turned back to him with a satisfied smirk.

“_God,_ _yes_.”

“Maybe you should tell me more about how hot you find it once all these people leave.”

“With pleasure,” he purred.

Arya stood and walked back to the front of the class. She took a long drink from her water bottle and pulled her shirt up to wipe the sweat off her face, the edge of her sports bra peeking out underneath. When she lowered it, she saw Gendry giving her a look that said _‘I know exactly what you’re doing’_. She responded with an arched eyebrow, which made him chuckle. He looked back to his laptop, shaking his head.  
  


—

  
Arya wrapped up the class with some cool down stretches. She was flattered when a couple of students said she should consider running a class regularly. It was something she would have been interested in if she had the time. She told them she’d think about it next year.

She turned off the music and started to collect up the gloves scattered around the room as the last students filtered out. “Maybe he should come to all our classes,” she heard someone comment as they left. “Having a hot guy to impress is a great motivator.” Arya couldn’t disagree. She looked over to find that Gendry had packed up his computer and was walking towards her.

“So how much more did you manage to get done,” she asked him, as she started packing the gloves and pads back into their storage tubs.

“I… would prefer not to answer that,” he said. Arya paused in her motions to gave him a knowing look over her shoulder. She turned back around before he could see her amused smile. “I’ll work on it tonight in the safety of my own room, far from the distractions of your…” He drifted off at the end, and Arya snapped her head around to find him blatantly checking out her ass.

She stood up slowly, purposefully arching her back and curving her ass out as much as she could. “What were you saying?” she murmured, as she moved closer to him.

“Uhhh…”

Just as Arya was within an arms length of him, Gendry’s phone rang. He gave a frustrated groan as he pulled it out of his pocket.

“This better be important, Pod,” he said sharply. Arya couldn’t hear what Pod was saying on the other end, but she saw Gendry’s expression promptly shift from annoyance to guilt. “Ah shit, I forgot. Sorry man. Do you need it tonight?” Pod spoke again. “Yeah, yeah, of course. I can get back in time if I… leave right now,” he said, giving Arya a pained look. She gave him a small shrug, and hoped that she looked amused at their bad luck, rather than as disappointed as she felt. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there soon.” Gendry let out a sigh as he hung up, then met her eye. “I’m really–”

“Don’t even worry about it,” said Arya. “You better get going.”

“Thanks again for your help,” he said, and he gave her one last regretful look before he left.

Arya took a deep breath before returning to collect the boxing gloves scattered around the room. They were all lying in pairs in a way that suddenly felt aggressive, as if they were rubbing it in that she’d been left on her own. She rolled her eyes at herself, at her bad luck, at Pod, though she knew he wasn’t to blame.

She recalled what Gendry had said to her after the night in the workshop. That it had been nice having the company. She had enjoyed having him at the gym tonight, seeing him fit effortlessly into her life outside the project. It was strange how easy it was for them to shift from friendly banter, to supporting each other, to incredibly passionate moments. It felt completely natural. Effortless. Addictive.

Arya finished wrestling the gloves into the tub as quickly as she could, and decided that tonight, instead of a cold shower to try and clear her head and ignore her desire, she would run herself a hot bath and let her hands drift over her body. She would take her time bringing herself pleasure. The thought of Gendry’s hungry eyes, his mischievous smirk, his muscled body… she knew that was all she’d need, and then some.  
  


**—:—:—**

  
The steady, repetitive sounds of the workshop were surprisingly conducive to concentration, despite the loud banging and the occasional clattering of a dropped tool. Gendry enjoyed the sound of people making things with their hands. He felt comfortable here. He liked to come to the workshop whenever there was a space available, even if it was only to work on the theory components of his project.

This Friday afternoon was one of those occasions. With their history classes still free, and the assignment under control, Gendry was making the most of the spare time to get on top of his other subjects. He was calculating the correct temperature for tempering a steel alloy when he was startled by a tap on the shoulder. He looked around at the guy who was here almost as often as himself, and wished he’d been paying attention when he’d told Gendry his name several weeks ago.

“She here for you?” the young man asked, gesturing to where Arya was hovering awkwardly by the door.

“God I hope so,” he breathed before he could stop himself. Fortunately, the other student had already wandered off. When Arya spotted him her face relaxed. She made a funny little gesture, as if asking for permission to come into the workshop. Gendry nodded eagerly.

She crept over to the table he was working at, glancing around the room as she went, as though someone was going to catch her.

“Hi,” she said in an uncharacteristically shy voice.

“Hi,” he said with a questioning look. “Why do you look like a kid who’s about to get into trouble?”

She giggled, and Gendry felt his heart swell at the sound. “Wasn’t sure if visitors were allowed,” she shrugged. “There’s already a lot going on in here.”

“You’ve been here before, Arya.”

“Yeah, but that was… different.” She didn’t meet his eye, and he wondered if she was as frequently affected the memories of that night as he was. “Wasn’t sure if I could just come in without an invitation.”

“It’s not some exclusive club,” he laughed. “It’s no problem. Just don’t put your hands anywhere where you could lose a finger.” Her eyes widened in an amused sort of panic. Gendry moved some papers and a stray hammer from the tabletop to make room for her to sit.

“Thanks,” she said, as she hopped up. He gripped his pen tighter to stop his fingers from reaching out to touch the smooth skin of her thigh. Why she was wearing shorts was a mystery to him. The weather had been warming up lately, but she was the only person who seemed to think it was warm enough for bare legs. For half a second he wondered if she’d worn them for his benefit.

_Of course it’s not for you, idiot._

Thankfully she didn’t notice his preoccupation, too busy surveying the action of the room. “Where’s the stabby chair?” she asked.

“In the storage room. Didn’t bother bringing it out today, since it’ll take me a while to get through this.”

“What are you working on?” She craned her neck around to examine the pages spread in front of him.

“Theory stuff. Correct temperature of the forge, how to temper metals for different purposes, that sort of thing.”

“Huh. That's really not as interesting as beautiful, shiny weapons is it.”

“Definitely not,” he said with a smile.

“It’s going well though? Your project?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, it’s going fine. Thanks,” he said, surprised at her interest. Apparently she had been paying more attention to his work that he’d realised. When he’d been working on it in her company, he’d been able to feel her watching him. He’d put more effort into showing off for her than into the swords he’d been making. They hadn’t turned out great, but it had been worth the sacrifice. Besides, he could always put those ones at the back where their flaws would be less obvious.

Gendry tried to refocus his attention on the present, asking, “What brings you here, anyway?”

“Met a friend for coffee on the far side of campus. I was heading back this way so I thought I'd see if you were here,” Arya said with a shrug.

The thought that she had wanted to see him enough to stop by made Gendry’s skin tingle. She didn’t have a question about the project, she didn’t have a new source to show him, she was just here. Just to say hello. Just because she could.

This was new territory for them, hanging out casually like this without a particular reason. Gendry liked it, though he hoped he wasn’t alone in being unsure of how to act. Arya pulled out her phone and started flicking through it, so Gendry tried hard to look like he was focused on his work, and not utterly consumed with thoughts of the woman next to him.

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. Arya seemed content, sitting and watching the goings-on in the workshop, not wanting to interrupt him, nor demanding any extra attention. The lull in conversation wasn’t at all strained. They were perfectly comfortable together, without any effort at all.

As Gendry pretended to work on his notes, he noticed goosebumps rising across the skin of her legs, easily in his view from where she was perched beside him. It seemed she had been more optimistic about today’s temperature than she should have been, and he couldn’t help but smirk at her determination to have everything her own way, even the weather.

Unfortunately, the sight of her chilled skin sent a shiver through him, though it wasn’t because he was cold. He couldn’t help the desire that sprung up in him, and he found himself wanting to warm her up as _creatively_ as he could. He wanted to run his tongue over her skin, and kiss away every goosebump. He wanted to grip the delicate flesh of her thighs, to pull her along the table and position her in front of him, and have his way with her again.

He mentally shook his head, hoping she couldn’t see the frustration that was bubbling in him. _Can’t do that_, he reminded himself. _Too many people around._

Arya laughed suddenly and looked him straight in the eye. A glimmer of something sparkled there, and for a moment he panicked that she could read the thoughts that had been running through his head.

_Surely she’s not _that_ extraordinary._

“So there’s this dorm party tomorrow night,” Arya explained, still smiling. Gendry tried to focus his attention on the conversation that was so far removed from where his head had been a moment ago. “Shireen has decided we’re both going.” Her expression became more thoughtful. “I’m a year older than her, but she’s incredibly brilliant so she skipped ahead in school. Anyway, she’s barely any younger than me, but I still feel... I guess, protective of her? Like, I know she can look after herself, and she’s learnt to deal with shitty people her whole life, but… I worry that people don’t appreciate her, just because she has scars on her face, you know?” She sighed and quickly shook her head. “It’s silly. Whatever. I’m letting her drag me along because apparently I haven’t been social enough for a first year student and she’s taken it upon herself to fix that.”

“A first year dorm party will fix it?” he asked, unable to keep the mirth from his voice.

Arya chuckled. “I guess so. She says we need to do something fun.”

“A first year dorm party is something fun?” he deadpanned.

Arya smiled at his obvious disinterest in such an event. “Well, it’s something, and it wouldn’t hurt me to be a bit more socially engaged.”

“That’s an interesting word for ‘drunk’,” he teased. Arya rolled her eyes at him. “Hopefully you’ll have fun. Just don’t…”

“What?”

“I dunno. Just, don’t get into too much trouble.”

“C’mon,” she said with a cheeky smile. “It’s not a party if there isn’t a bit of trouble.”

Gendry shook his head at her, imagining all the different kinds of trouble Arya could find herself in. He wondered what she was like when she was younger, what type of teenage rebellion had been to her taste. Someone as adventurous and outgoing as Arya surely found all sorts of ways to get up to mischief.

Arya looked down when her phone chimed again. “Oh, man. Ned says there’s gonna be a beer pong tournament.”

Of course Ned fucking Dayne would be there.

“How can you go wrong?” Gendry said, trying not to sound bitter. He knew his dislike of Ned was probably irrational, but the way he fawned over Arya set Gendry’s teeth on edge. He wondered if she only hung out with him because they were both first years, or if she chose to spend time with him because they were friends. Or maybe they liked each other as more than friends. He could tell that Ned certainly did. Gendry felt a storm of emotions well up at the thought, and had to remind himself that he had no right to an opinion on who else Arya chose to spend time with, or hook up with. He should be pleased that she chose to spend some of her time with him, and not just because of the project.

Arya suddenly stuffed her phone back in her pocket and reached a hand out to steady herself as she pushed off the table to stand. She gave his shoulder a little squeeze before she released it, which shouldn’t have been a big deal, but the casual way she’d touched him made Gendry buzz. “Better get going,” she said. “Thanks for letting me hang out.” She gave him a warm smile.

“Anytime,” he said breathlessly. She turned her head back to smile again as she reached the door. He raised a hand in a wave as she slipped out.

He was glad that she’d stopped by, but Gendry couldn’t shake the unpleasant sinking feeling in his stomach. They were churning through the assignment, and the semester was slipping by. With each finished section of the project, he kept feeling like time was running out. Not only for getting the work done, but for them, for spending time together. Would they still see each other when it was over? Would she want to keep hanging out with him? Maybe she would want to see him just to hook up. For some reason that seemed worse than not seeing her at all.  
  


**—:—:—**

  
Gendry was lying in bed, already half asleep, when suddenly his phone rang. When he saw Arya’s name on the screen, he was surprised. She’d only ever texted him in the past. Surely she wasn’t working on the assignment at this hour, so why would she be calling him now?

“Hello?” he said, trying not to sound too sleepy.

“Gendryyyyyyy!” Arya said, a little too loudly. In the background, Gendry could hear loud, thumping music and people chattering. _The dorm party_, he remembered.

“Arya, what in the hell–”

“Gendry, please don’t be mad at me,” she said, sounding more serious. “Oh my God, I hope you won’t be mad.” Gendry could tell Arya was definitely tipsy, maybe even a little drunk, but something in her tone made him sit up.

“Are you alright?”

“Noooo,” she wailed. “I’ve gone and twisted my ankle, and I– Oi! Piss off!” he heard her yell at someone in the background. “Sorry Gendry, I… where was I?”

“You’re hurt?” He could hear the hint of panic in his voice.

“I’m okay, it’s not too bad,” she reassured him, “but I need help, and I can’t call Sansa ‘cause she’s giving some big presentation tomorrow morning. She made me promise to come home suuuuuper quietly, and getting her to come here probably doesn’t count as super quiet. And I just… I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s okay, Arya, I’ll come and get you. Where’s the party at?”

“The Harrenhal Dorm.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” he promised. He could hear Arya’s sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Gendry,” she said softly, and hung up.

Gendry pinched his brow and let out a deep breath. The thought of Arya being hurt and stuck at this stupid party made him more uncomfortable than he would have expected. He jumped up, threw on a hoodie and some sneakers, and went to find her.  
  


—

  
Gendry could hear the bass-heavy music blaring from the party as he walked down the street towards the dorm. He could see several groups of people smoking and drinking out the front of the building, and as he got closer, he found a trail of discarded red cups where people had ditched them as they’d wandered home. When he came to the gate, Gendry found Arya sitting on the curb, looking rather forlorn, though she seemed to have sobered up a bit in the time it had taken him to get there. And then he saw…

“What are you wearing?” he choked out, trying and failing to seem unaffected by the vision of her before him.

“What?” She frowned. “I think it looks cute.”

He took in her tousled hair, painted lips, and skin-tight black jeans, but what really had his heart beating fast was the black lace bra that was barely covered by a pink mesh top. She might as well not have bothered with the top layer at all, since he could see right through it to her creamy skin underneath.

“That’s not the word I would have used,” he breathed. He looked down and saw her discarded shoes beside her. They were black and shiny with a dozen straps, and a heel that was higher than any he could remember seeing. “Well, no wonder you hurt yourself in those,” he said, pointing to them.

“‘Scuse you,” she said in an offended tone, “I’d already taken them off when I slipped.”

“Jesus Christ, Arya, you were walking around barefoot at a kegger?!” He ran a hand down his face and looked back at her. “Why are you alone?”

“Huh?”

“Why isn’t anybody out here with you?” She shrugged at him, so he clarified. “Weren’t your friends gonna be here? Where’s Shireen? Or Ned?” he added as an afterthought.

“Shireen took her roommate home after she got dumped. God, it was bad Gendry. There was a lot of very public yelling and crying and swearing. Poor Shireen was in for a long night.”

“And Ned?” he prompted, trying to get her to focus.

“He was in the finals of the beer pong tournament. I don’t know how he was still standing, to be honest.” 

“He left you out here to go play beer bong?” Gendry seethed, but tried not to let Arya see how unimpressed he was.

“He knew you’d come for me,” she said easily. “His assignment partner would never do this for him. Ned knows it, too. I told him you were way better.” Gendry smiled softly at that. _Suck it, Ned,_ he thought, but only for a second.

“C’mon then, let’s get you home so you can put some ice on your ankle.”

“Oh God, Sansa’s gonna be so pissed,” she moaned. Gendry paused for a moment, considering his options, before deciding to throw caution to the wind.

“S’pose you could stay at my place,” he said, half of him hoping she’d turn him down, and the other half desperately hoping she wouldn’t.

“Really? That would help me out so much!” she said, relieved. “God, you really are the best-looking assignment partner.” Gendry’s eyebrows shot up at her words. “BEST! I mean the _best_ assignment partner, and then I said nothing else after the word ‘best’!” she proclaimed. Gendry laughed as she blushed furiously.

“Right, well. Let’s go, partner.”

Arya thrust her arms out, silently asking him to help her up. He took her tiny hands in his and gently tugged her to her feet, or rather foot, as she cautiously held the other one in the air, before testing her weight on it.

“Can you walk on it?” he asked.

“Enough.”

She kept hold of one of Gendry’s hands as she bent down to pick up her shoes, then he wrapped an arm around her waist to support her, and they slowly started off towards Gendry’s apartment.

“So how did you fare in the beer pong tournament?” he asked after a few quiet moments. She gave him a look that said ‘not well’.

“Not my game,” she said with a laugh.

“Is it really anyone’s game?”

“Yes! This girl Meera from my Anthro class, she wiped the floor with everyone. Her brother did well too.”

“Hmm, so maybe it’s genetic.”

“Maybe it is,” she nodded.

“So, what is your game?”

“Probably air hockey,” she said thoughtfully.

“Really?”

“My older brothers got really into it one summer. They would go to the arcade in town every afternoon, so my parents decided to buy a table for them as a joint Christmas present that year. We played so much air hockey over the rest of the Christmas break. I even found Mum and Dad playing a few times!” She laughed at the memory. God, he loved her laugh. “Jon showed me all the best moves he used against Robb, but I think he regretted it when I started using them against him. Anyway, we all loved it, but I was universally acknowledged as the reigning champion.”

Gendry’s brow furrowed in confusion as he noticed a sad look cross her face. When she looked up at him, she must have read the question there.

“Robb and Jon moved down here the next year and brought the table with them. I guess, thinking of it made me remember them leaving. Home wasn’t the same without them. Plus I got really out of practice,” she grumbled. Gendry laughed out loud at that.

“Have they still got the table?”

“Yeah!” Her face lit up with her answer. “They had it in their dorm room first. They would put the cover on and use it as a table to spread out their study notes. Then when they moved into their apartment for second year, they found a place with three bedrooms, just so they’d have enough room.”

“How could they afford that?” Gendry asked.

“Jon had some money from his parents’ estate.”

“_His_ parents? Aren’t his parents also your parents?”

“Oh, no. Jon’s technically my cousin, but his parents died when he was a baby so he was raised like a brother.”

Gendry smiled. The Starks seemed like a particularly close family, like they were a pack, and would stick together through everything. He couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit jealous.

“They’re planning to visit sometime towards the end of semester,” Arya continued. “I’m gonna take them to that new place near the Citadel that has all the retro arcade games.”

“There are a few old pinball machines upstairs at the Silly Bobby, you know.”

“Really? I’ll take them there, too! That way you can meet them.”

“I’d like that,” he said, giving her a warm smile that radiated from deep within him. “Although I should warn you, I’m a bit of a pinball legend.”

Arya gave him a skeptical look. “Oh yeah? Where’d you learn these alleged pinball skills?”

Gendry hesitated. They were friends now, surely they were. But he always guarded his personal history more closely than others. In his experience, people didn’t really know what to do with a tragic backstory. Then again, Arya wasn’t _people._

“My mum died when I was young, and I didn’t have any other family, so I ended up in foster care. Moved around to a few places, including a few group homes. One of them had an old pinball machine in the garage. Sometimes it was a fun thing to do all together, seeing who could beat the high score. And sometimes it was a good way to spend time by myself, focusing on something that didn’t matter.”

Gendry was anticipating the look. The pitying expression that always followed him telling someone about his past. That was the usual response. Apparently learning he was a foster kid explained _so much_. He couldn’t see why it should make any difference, but it so often did.

“Well,” Arya said, with an unexpected smile on her face. “I guess we’ll have to find out which is the better training. A house full of Starks or a house full of foster kids.” It took Gendry a second to set aside his happy surprise at her response and answer her challenge.

“I guess you’d better get ready to lose,” he said. Arya scoffed at him as though the idea of her being unable to beat him was unthinkable. “It’ll do you some good,” he added with a cheeky grin. That earned him a quick swat on the chest, but he only laughed at her.

Gendry looked up and realised how little distance they’d covered in the time they’d been talking. “It’ll take forever to get back to my place like this,” he said, pulling her to a stop. “It’ll be quicker if I carry you.”

“_Ugh,_ no, you’re not carrying me,” she protested.

“Arya.”

“I’m fi-ine,” she whined. He sighed and decided it was worth invoking her wrath if it meant he could go to bed sooner. Although he did have to push thoughts of sharing his bed with Arya from his mind.

Gendry took Arya’s wrist and brought her arm around his shoulder, then bent to scoop her up into his arms. She let out a surprised squeak, but didn’t insist he put her down. He continued on towards his building, trying not to think about the feeling of her pressed against him, or how soft the skin of her back felt where he held her. His jeans started to become tight having her so close, and he tried to concentrate on each step he was taking, rather than the feeling of her breathing against him.

Her fingers started to play with the hair at the back of his neck where her arm was draped over his shoulder, and he felt his skin tingle under her touch. She had given in and rested her head against his shoulder, her other hand sitting on his chest over his heart. He hoped she couldn’t feel how fast it was beating. He breathed in the mingling scents of shampoo, and stale beer, and _Arya. _

_Thank fuck it’s not much further_, he thought, _because this is too much_.

When they reached his door, Gendry let Arya slip gently to the floor so he could unlock it. She steadied herself on her good foot, but held on to him.

_For balance. Just to keep her balance, _he reminded himself.

He helped her over to sit on the couch and went to get her some ice. Her tiredness seemed to catch up with her, and she turned and sunk into the seat cushions. Gendry gently propped her foot up on a pillow and placed the ice over her ankle. Arya gasped at the cold touch, and looked at Gendry as he sat on the edge of the coffee table.

“Does it hurt much?” he asked.

“Nah. Feels better now I’m off it,” she said sleepily.

“I’d offer you the bed, but maybe it’d be better if you didn’t move again, yeah?” She rolled her eyes at him.

“I’m not gonna make you come pick me up, practically beg you to let me stay at your place, and then kick you out of your own bed, Gendry.” They both laughed. “Really, though,” she continued, “thank you for rescuing me tonight.”

“Us blacksmiths are known for our chivalry, m’lady.”

“Don’t call me that,” Arya said, though she was smiling warmly at him. Gendry held her gaze for a moment, wondering how she’d react if he leaned in and kissed her.

He was immediately taken back to their first brief kiss in the workshop. He’d been feeling fuzzy in the head after the intense orgasm she’d given him, and when he’d pulled back, he’d realised that sharing a single kiss with her had been just as intimate as the physical pleasure they’d given each other. Touching each other was about lust and passion, but when he’d looked into her eyes, he’d been overcome with something else. Something deeper.

He was feeling it now, too, as he watched her trying to keep her beautiful grey eyes open. He wanted to pull her to him, to find her lips with his, but he knew he couldn’t. She’d been drinking, and she’d trusted him to help her when she was vulnerable. Whatever was going on between them, however hazy, however painfully undefined it was, he knew he couldn’t let himself want more. Not when he was so unsure of how Arya felt about everything.

Gendry knew he was lucky that it hadn’t become a huge problem for them, and with all the work they still had to do, he had to be careful not to overstep. He didn’t know what lines he was allowed to cross, nor why those lines seemed so flexible sometimes and at other times, rigid. But every moment they spent together added to the endless loop that played in his mind, blurring together, drowning him in visions of her, even when she was right in front of him.

When her eyes had drifted shut, Gendry quietly stood up, moving to turn out the light and head to bed.

“Gendry?” Arya said sleepily. He turned back to look at her. “Did you really not like my outfit?” She sounded disappointed.

“Never said I didn’t like it,” he reassured her, unable to help the broad smile spreading over his face. “Just that I wouldn’t have described it as ‘cute’”

“How would you describe it?”

“Dead fucking sexy,” he breathed, and she giggled at his answer. “Night,” he added with a smirk.

“Sweet dreams,” she whispered as a satisfied smile formed on her lips. “Or not so sweet.”

He rolled his eyes at her, causing her to giggle again, then he went into his bedroom and shut the door.

_Not so fucking sweet_, he thought.  
  


**—:—:—**

  
A clattering noise woke Arya far too early the next morning. When she opened her eyes she was blinded by the light streaming in through the large window. When her eyes adjusted to the assault, Arya looked around and realised she wasn’t in her own bed, or even her own apartment. She tried to sit up, but was stopped by a twinge of pain in her ankle, and suddenly everything that had happened the night before came rushing back.

She remembered the chaos of the beer pong tournament, and Shireen having to look after her heartbroken roommate. She remembered losing her footing as she came down the stairs, and she remembered… _Gendry_.

_Gendry came to help me. He carried me to his place. He looked like he might–_

“Morning party animal!” he called from the kitchen, sounding far too cheery for this time of… late morning. “Sorry, did I wake you when I knocked the frying pan?”

“Hmmuhh?” Arya grunted, in a poor attempt at actual words. Gendry laughed softly at her.

“I’m making pancakes.”

“Mmmm,” Arya said approvingly.

“There’s some water and painkillers there if you need them,” he pointed out. “Wasn’t sure what state you’d be in this morning.”

“I’m okay,” she croaked. “Just dehydrated and sleep-deprived. Uh… thanks again for helping me out last night. And sorry for crashing here.” Gendry smiled as he carried over two plates of delicious smelling pancakes.

“Don’t worry about it. After all, I am the _best_ assignment partner.” He gave her a stupid grin.

“Yep. The best, that’s what I said. Those very words exactly, and no others.” Arya took a big mouthful of pancakes as Gendry laughed. He was about to say something else when Arya’s shrill ringtone filled the air. She sighed as she answered.

“Hi, Sansa.”

“Arya! Thank fuck you’re alive! I thought you were sleeping, but when I came in to wake you after my presentation it didn’t look like you’d been home and–

“I’m fine Sans, really. Although…” Arya grimaced at how this conversation was inevitably going to go. “I need your help to get home.”

“What? Why? Where are you?”

“I hurt my ankle at the party last night, and I didn’t want to wake you to come–”

“Oh, Arya, of course I would have come! Oh my God, are you alright? Do you need medical attention?” Arya rolled her eyes at her sister’s overreaction.

“I’m fine, Sans. Gendry came to help me and I stayed on his couch,” Arya said carefully, not wanting Sansa to jump to the wrong conclusions.

“Oh! Right. Well, shall I come and collect you from _Gendry’s_ place?” Arya didn’t think it would be helpful to point out how much Sansa sounded like their mother at that moment.

“Yes, please,” she said through gritted teeth. She swatted at Gendry when she heard him chuckling beside her.

“Text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Uh, thanks. Umm…”

“Yes?”

“Could you bring me some clothes?” Arya could practically hear Sansa’s eyebrows raise, and she saw Gendry bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. “I’m still in what I wore to the party,” she explained, “and I don’t fancy hopping across campus looking like this,” she said defensively, shooting Gendry a pointed glare.

“Yes, Arya, I’ll bring you some clothes, and then we can have a nice long chat on the way home. See you soon.” Sansa hung up, and Arya texted her Gendry’s address, tapping on the screen with more force than necessary.

“Shut up,” she said as Gendry looked at her in amusement.

“Not saying a word,” he replied, as he took another bite of his pancakes.

Arya and Gendry had finished eating by the time Sansa knocked on the door. Gendry collected their plates and put them on the counter as he went to answer it.

“Hi!,” Sansa said, a little too enthusiastically for Arya’s liking. “I’m Sansa. You must be the famous Gendry.” She decided she was going to kill her sister.

“Famous?” he asked, looking over at Arya with a smirk, as Sansa walked in.

“Oh, I see,” Sansa said when she noticed the outfit Arya had worn to the party. A wry smile came over her sister’s face, and Arya didn’t miss the way she glanced at Gendry before passing her the clothes she’d brought.

“Thanks,” Arya said with a tight smile.

“You can change in my room,” Gendry said, and she hobbled over to the bedroom. As she shut the door, she caught a glimpse of a mischievous twinkle in Sansa’s eye.

Arya changed into the soft pants and hoodie as quickly as she could manage with her injured ankle. She wanted to avoid leaving her sister alone with Gendry for any longer than necessary. When she opened the door, she found Sansa and Gendry laughing together, and Sansa’s hand was lightly touching Gendry’s arm. For a split second, Arya felt a sting of jealousy at the sight.

“Apparently your chariot awaits, m’lady,” Gendry said with an amused smile.

“What?” she asked, too confused to snap at Gendry for calling her ‘m’lady’ again.

“Theon spotted a shopping trolley on the way over. We can use it to push you back home,” Sansa explained, sounding delighted at the mental image.

“Oh good, you brought Theon. Well, this has been _such_ fun, but I think we’d best be going, right Sansa?” she asked, looking pointedly at her sister.

“Lovely to meet you Gendry, and thank you for taking such good care of my sister,” Sansa said as Arya dragged her towards the door, with surprising haste considering she was limping.

“Any time,” Gendry called out as they left.

“I have to say…” Sansa began, as they started down the hall.

“Do you, though? Do you _have_ to say?” Arya bit back sarcastically, but her sister ignored her.

“I’m curious about your choice of outfit,” Sansa continued. “I mean, it was a first year party, wasn’t it? So Gendry wasn’t going to be there. And I’ve just never seen you dress like that unless you were doing it to get someone’s attention.”

“Do you have a point?”

“I suppose I’m just wondering how badly your ankle was actually hurt. Seems very fortunate that you could call on Gendry during this crisis, and give him a chance to see you looking like that.” Sansa couldn’t hide her knowing smile.

“First of all,” Arya said sharply, “I could have broken my neck on those stairs. You’re lucky you don’t have a funeral to plan. And second of all, shut up.” They were quiet for a moment as Sansa helped her down the few steps at the front of the building.

“Although, things did work out rather well,” Arya conceded quietly. Her sister giggled and squeezed her side as they walked towards where Theon was waiting. Beside him was a shopping trolley. “Oh my God, you weren’t kidding.”

“Did someone order an Uber?” Theon said with a ridiculous grin. He helped her into the trolley, and the three of them headed back to the apartment, earning some very strange looks as they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed working on this chapter. It took some time to get right, but I’m happy with how it turned out. You can see a picture of the outfit Arya wore to the party in my edit for this chapter [here](https://forge-heat.tumblr.com/post/187951721934/chapter9). I’m posting some other bonus content on tumblr, too.
> 
> Thank you so much to the wonderful people who have been leaving a comment on every chapter. Your support is so helpful to my writing, and I look forward to seeing what you’ll think of each new update. Feel free to jump on that bandwagon and leave a comment, or pop on over to tumblr and say hi there.
> 
> Next Time:  
A visit to the museum becomes tense when Gendry gives Arya something to think about.
> 
> (Chapter 10 will be fun! Can’t wait for you to see it.)


	10. Excursion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit to the museum becomes tense when Gendry gives Arya some things to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been really busy working on the Gendrya Gift Exchange that’s happening on tumblr, which is why there was a delay in getting this chapter up. I'll do my best not to let the time between updates drag out, I promise. Really hope you enjoy this!
> 
> Previously:  
Arya and Gendry spent more time together, and Gendry helped Arya home from a party.

**** ** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Hey, so are you coming to the library via the North courtyard?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Yeah, why?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Any chance you could stop by the coffee place and get me a double shot caramel soy mocha latte?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Any chance I won’t feel stupid ordering that?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _I dunno, you’re pretty stupid most of the time, so I’d be surprised if this was any different._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Wow, guess I’m not coming via the North courtyard after all._ **

**_Arya  
_**😒

—

“I got you your completely ridiculous diabetic coma of a drink, and I felt _very_ stupid ordering it,” Gendry said when he arrived at the library on Tuesday afternoon. “Next time you can ask for a normal coffee like mine or you can have nothing.” Arya wiggled in her seat when she saw that he had in fact brought her a coffee, and he couldn’t help but find it adorable.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” she said as she took the drink and reached for her wallet.

“No, it’s fine. My treat. Because next time, when you ask for a normal coffee, it won’t cost eight fucking dollars.” She bit her lip, looking a bit sorry, though mostly she just looked amused. Gendry focused on setting up his laptop so he wouldn’t have to think about how much he’d like to be the one biting her lip.

“Your sister seems nice,” he said a moment later, as he watched her take a cautious sip.

“You mean she seems pretty.” Arya said it in a way that made him think it was what most people meant when they met her sister. If he’d known it would bring her out of her happy mood, he wouldn’t have brought it up, but now that he had, he didn’t want to leave her with the wrong impression.

“Is that what I said?” he challenged.

“No… but–”

“Then maybe I meant that your sister seems nice.” Arya looked sheepish. “Have you two always been close?”

She sighed and shook her head, seeming somewhat uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, if you’d rather not–”

“No, it’s fine,” she said. “We didn’t get on at all when we were growing up. We only really became close after she finally dumped that piece of shit she was dating. And I’m glad we’re so close now, and I love living with her…”

“But?” Gendry asked gently, sensing there was more to it.

“Sometimes… something will make me remember the nasty things she used to say when we were kids, and I know it’s stupid, but it still hurts a bit,” she said quietly. “Sometimes it feels like she’s still the pretty one and I’m still…” _not, _he could hear her thinking.

“She is very pretty,” he admitted, and Arya’s head snapped up, “but so are you. More than pretty, Arya. You’re–”

“Hey, Arya!”

_Of fucking course._

“Hi Ned,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. “Working on your history project?” Ned glanced over at Gendry, registering that the project was the reason he and Arya were there, though he didn’t seem to feel the need to speak to Gendry at all.

“No, actually,” he said, looking back at Arya, “doing some homework for my Valyrian Language course. Is your ankle feeling better?”

“Good as new, thanks.”

_Not that you cared enough to help_, Gendry thought bitterly.

“Oh good. Hey, did you get the email about Friday’s class?”

“I haven’t checked. Why?” Arya asked, sounding slightly worried.

“We’re going on a class excursion to the museum! I guess Lannister realised we could all use some help with it, so he’s arranged this to try and inspire us.”

“Wow, I didn’t even know they did field trips in college,” she said with a laugh. Gendry scoffed as her reaction made Ned’s face light up.

“I know! It’ll be great to get out of the classroom for a change. We’re meeting at the East campus gate at the regular class time. I’ll see you then Arya,” he said, grinning like an idiot.

“Bye Ned.”

“_Bye_,” Gendry said pointedly, though neither of them seemed to hear him.

“It’ll be nice to do something different, I guess,” said Arya, turning back to him and shrugging. “Even though we don’t really need the help, since we’re back on track, and apparently crushing it compared to everyone else.” She smiled at him conspiratorially, and all thoughts of Ned vanished from his mind.

“To being the best partners in the class,” Gendry said, holding up his coffee cup to her.

“Not to mention the best-looking,” she said with a wink. Gendry laughed loudly as they knocked their cardboard cups together, earning him a stern glare from the librarian, though he couldn’t have cared less.

**  
** —:—:—  


When Gendry walked up to the East gate on Friday afternoon to meet the rest of the class for the excursion, he could see Ned talking to Arya. He was standing unnecessarily close to her, and talking enthusiastically. When Arya smiled at something he said, Gendry felt uncomfortable at the jealousy bubbling up in him. It was only Ned Dayne, after all. He had nothing to worry about from a stupid crush.

When Gendry approached them, he tried his best not to glare at the boy, although he couldn’t help noticing that Ned didn’t look at all happy to see him, either. The atmosphere around them became uncomfortable as the three of them stood there, unsure what to say.

“So, this is fun. Going on a field trip,” Ned commented, in an attempt to make conversation.

“Yeah, a five minute walk down the road. Big adventure.” Judging by the look on Ned’s face, he didn’t inject enough humour to avoid sounding rude, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it. He caught a glance of annoyance from Arya, but it was gone quickly.

“No, it’ll be fun,” said Arya with an encouraging smile. “So, how’s your project going?” Hopefully Arya would just carry the conversation, and Gendry could do his best to ignore Ned.

_It’ll be like I’m not even here._

“It’s okay,” he said, sounding less than confident. “There’s just so much to get through. And Mylon never seems to be available to work on it.” He gave a frustrated shrug. “Where are you up to?” Gendry couldn’t help but notice that Ned only asked Arya, despite the fact that her partner was standing right next to her.

“We’re hoping to finish off section four next week, maybe get started on putting section five together?” She looked to Gendry, who nodded in agreement with the plan. He felt pleased that she’d so clearly spoken about them jointly.

“Wow, already? You guys are really getting through it. You… you seem to work well together,” he said, sounding jealous, although Gendry couldn’t tell if it was because he wished he was the one who got to work with Arya, or because he wished he had a partner who did their share of the work. Feeling irritated at the whole conversation, Gendry was unable to resist amusing himself.

“Well, when one person takes care of something, it’s only fair to return the favour,” he said, keeping his face perfectly neutral. Arya snorted beside him, making a poor attempt to cover the sound with a cough. “You alright there, partner?” His voice was dripping with mirth as he patted her on the back.

“Fine,” she gasped.

“Things were a bit tense between us at first,” Gendry continued, “but as we became more comfortable with each other, everything started to come together.” He could see Arya blushing furiously. “When you’re working on something so hard, it’s nice to be able to have some fun together. You’ve gotta be able to relax, and just… relieve the tension, you know?”

Arya’s face was bright red, and Gendry could see her lips quivering as she tried to suppress a smile.

“Yeah. Well, that’s… great.” He wasn’t sure Ned could have sounded any less enthusiastic.

“Don’t worry, Ned,” Arya said, attempting to move the conversation along. “I’m sure you guys will hand in a great assignment. Which king did you end up picking?”

“Aegon the Conqueror,” said Ned, brightly. This time Gendry was the one who snorted, and Arya gave him a warning look.

“Sorry,” he mumbled to Ned. “Maybe we should have picked Aegon, too, Arya. Seems like he was a popular choice.”

Arya looked as though she was going to snap out a retort when Professor Lannister wandered up to the group.

“Everyone here? Good. Let’s go.”  


As the group set off towards the museum, Arya hung back, walking slowly. When the rest of the class had moved out of earshot, she stopped and pulled Gendry to a halt beside her.

“What’s your problem?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

“No problem,” he shrugged.

“Why are you giving Ned a hard time?”

“I really didn’t mean to,” Gendry said through a grin, “but I couldn’t resist.”

“It was rude,” snapped Arya.

“C’mon, I saw you trying not to laugh. Besides, Ned already dislikes me. Being nice to him won’t make a difference.” Gendry tugged at her elbow to keep them moving so they wouldn’t fall too far behind the rest of the group.

“What makes you say that?”

“Just an impression,” Gendry said darkly. “He certainly didn’t look too happy when I interrupted your conversation earlier.”

“Well, you should try to be nicer to him. He’s my friend.” Gendry rolled his eyes, and found he couldn’t bite his tongue.

“He’s not your friend, Arya. He’s friendly, but only because he wants to be more than friends.”

“What? No he doesn’t.”

“Yes he does,” Gendry said, with a humourless laugh.

“What are you talking about? Ned doesn’t like me like that.”

Gendry had to be careful. He didn’t want to seem jealous of Ned _fucking_ Dayne. If he pointed out Ned’s crush, maybe it would occur to Arya that Gendry was the superior choice, in terms of people she could be more-than-friends with. Or maybe she would realise she wanted to run off and be with Ned. He wished he hadn’t said anything, but he was in the middle of it now, so he pushed on.

“He definitely likes you like that. Whenever he says anything in class, he looks at you to see your reaction. He always keeps an empty seat, hoping you’ll sit next to him. Every class, Arya,” he pressed, when he saw her about to protest. “He always hangs around to talk to you afterwards. Plus...” He wasn’t sure if he should mention it.

“Plus what?”

“He always looks pretty unhappy when he sees us together,” Gendry said more gently. “I was literally the only thing standing between you and him being partners for the assignment. He was sitting on the other side of me that day. Without me, he could have had you all to himself. I think he sees me as some sort of… obstacle to winning your affections.” He looked over at her, trying to read her reaction.

Arya stayed quiet for several minutes, thinking it over as they approached the museum.

“Look, I’m sorry if–” Gendry started, but she quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s fine, I just... I’ll think about what you said.” He nodded, and they headed inside.

As the class began their tour of the museum, Gendry thought Arya looked as though she might like some time alone with her thoughts, so he reluctantly gave her some space. Moving through the museum, their tour guide made a particular effort to highlight artefacts that were associated with the various kings of Westeros. The young man must have been told about their assignment, since he made a special mention of anything he thought was relevant. Gendry could see several pairs of students commenting to each other and making notes whenever something related to their chosen king was pointed out. King Bran the Broken was mentioned a few times, though Gendry didn’t find the commentary to be particularly insightful. On one occasion, he even noticed a fact that Arya’s sources had proven incorrect. As much as he’d teased her earlier, he really was grateful to have her for a partner

Under different circumstances, he might have found himself getting to enjoy Arya’s snarky commentary about the exhibits, and laughing as she quietly mocked the guide’s overly animated tone and unnecessary hand gestures. But Gendry had gone and opened his damn mouth, and now Arya was dragging along at the back of the group, unusually withdrawn.

As they progressed through the large hallways of the museum, Gendry tried to suppress his bitterness at the fact that Ned had moved to hover around Arya, jumping at the opportunity to spend time with her without Gendry getting in the way. Ned had obviously picked up on the change in her mood and was diligently trying to bring her out of it. Arya seemed not to mind, and she was offering him occasional smiles for his effort. When she let out a quiet laugh at something he’d said, Gendry decided to pay very close attention to what the tour guide was saying about Westerosi prayer alters, and determinedly avoided looking in their direction.

Towards the end of the tour, when they’d reached the Hall of Kings exhibit, Arya came up to where Gendry stood at the back of the group. There was no way she’d be able to see anything with so many taller people in front of her, but she didn’t seem to care. She didn’t look like she was paying attention to the guide’s explanation of ancient coronation ceremonies, anyway. She seemed to be deep in thought, and her brow was furrowed in an especially cute way. A few minutes later the guide dismissed the group and the class was encouraged to look around the exhibit for the rest of their time there. As Gendry started to wander around the room he felt Arya following him closely, until she eventually spoke.

“I thought about what you said,” she half-whispered, looking around to make sure there wasn’t anyone standing too near them.

“Uh huh,” he replied, trying to sound casual as they looked at a display about... _God, who even knows_, he thought. His full attention was on Arya, curious to know what she might say, no matter how hard he was trying to sound unaffected. “And?”

“And, so what if Ned has a crush on me?” she asked. “So he saves me a seat, and tries to impress me? What’s so bad about that? I mean, I hadn’t really noticed until you pointed it out, and now that you have, I can see what he’s doing. But I don’t mind his company. And if he’s only doing it because he wants something more, well...” she hesitated, “then, I guess I don’t really know what to do about that. Who knows?” she shrugged. “Maybe I’ll take him to some dark corner of the library and see if he’s worth my time.”

Her cunning smile told Gendry that she wasn’t serious, but the spark in her eyes made him wonder what reaction she was looking for. If she was trying to press his buttons, it was because she wanted him to press hers.

He could play that game.

Checking again to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard, he leaned in and spoke in a low voice. “Ned’s a puppy. He’ll follow you around, taking any scraps you give him, but he’ll never be brave enough to tell you what he really wants. And he certainly won’t give you what _you_ want.”

“Really?” she asked him sceptically. “And what exactly do I want?” She crossed her arms, challenging him.

Gendry stalked around her and stepped up close behind her to whisper his answer in her ear. “You want someone to push you up against one of these columns and stick their fingers into your tight, wet cunt.”

He heard her sharp intake of breath at his words, and smiled at her reaction. He brushed his nose against the sensitive spot behind her ear and wondered how far he could take this. He was willing to find out.

“You want someone to rip this dangerously short dress off you, and bend you over some ancient fucking prayer alter and make you scream.”

His fingers played at the hem of her dress, drawing circles on her skin. He sensed her breathing quicken, and wished he could feel how fast her heart was racing.

“You want someone who can do it hard and fast, or slow and passionate, or whatever the fuck else you feel like.”

He felt her take a deep breath to steady herself before she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“Someone like you?” He knew she was trying to sound cocky and confident, but her voice wavered and she couldn’t quite manage it.

“Hmm. I guess that’s up to you,” he said with a nonchalant tilt of his head. “Something to think about when you’re touching yourself tonight.” He stepped back from her and spun around to head into the next room. He didn’t think he’d ever forget the look of surprise that coloured her face.

**—:—:—**

That night, as Arya brushed her teeth she thought back to the feeling of Gendry pressed up behind her, whispering those wonderful, terrible things in her ear.

Mentioning taking Ned to the library had certainly worked a treat. She knew nothing would ever come of Ned’s crush on her, which had been so unhelpfully brought to her attention by Gendry. But when she saw his frustration over it, she knew she could have some fun. What she hadn’t expected was for Gendry to have some fun of his own.

She tucked herself into bed and turned out the light, but she couldn’t get settled. She tried desperately not to prove him right, but eventually she gave in and slipped a hand down into her underwear, trying to imagine it was Gendry touching her.

Suddenly, a brilliantly wicked idea struck her. She grabbed her phone, opened the camera, and angled it to take a selfie. She had to make sure the photo clearly showed what she was doing, so she pulled her pyjama top up around her waist and made sure her hand was pulling her shorts down a bit, just enough to tease. She leaned her head back, half closed her eyes, and touched her top lip with her tongue. She wanted to look like she was overcome with lust. She wanted to make sure Gendry would be, too.

Arya held the phone out across the bed, trying to make herself look as she would to someone lying beside her, and snapped several pictures, just to be safe. She selected the best one and typed out a message to go with it.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _You were right. Plenty to think about._ **

Felling a thrill run through her, she sent it.

Arya set her phone aside, and let her hand drift back between her legs. She ran a finger into her wet heat, then brought it back to circle her clit. She repeated the motion again and again, rolling her hips in time with the movement. She was startled out of her rhythm by the vibration of her phone. Her stomach clenched as she read Gendry’s reply.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Fucking hell, Arya. I’m just about to go to sleep and you send me that?! Now I’ve gotta deal with this massive boner you’ve given me!_ **

She smiled, pleased the photo had the intended effect. Another message came through shortly after the first, this time a photo. It showed Gendry’s not-so-subtly flexed abs, and a very obvious erection stretching his red underwear.

**_Gendry  
_****_And I do mean massive _**😉🍆

Arya rolled her eyes at this, but couldn’t help feeling turned on by his cockiness. She figured he had a right to be self-assured, given his size. She started rubbing her fingers in quick, little circles around her clit as she typed a reply.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Looks like you have a lot to think about too._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _You’re right, I do. I’m thinking about how I’d like to watch you touch yourself._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Really?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _God, yes. I want to see you playing with yourself, teasing yourself. I want to hear you moaning and whimpering and writhing as you make yourself come._ **

_Holy fuck_, she thought. Arya’s movements quickened as the thought of him watching her sent heat rising over her skin.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _So you want to jerk off to me jerking off, while I think about you jerking me off?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _That’s exactly what I’m doing, I’d just rather do it in person._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Do you want to come on me?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Jesus Christ, I do now!_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Hmm, but where? On my tits?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Maybe._ **

** _Arya   
_ ** ** _Or my stomach?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Possibly._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Or maybe you want me to bend over the bed and spread my legs wide while I fuck myself with my fingers. That way you could come all over my back._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Oh fuck Arya you’re getting me so close._ **

Arya was struck with an idea of how she could finish him off. She opened the voice memo app, pressed the record button, and started making soft little noises into the microphone. She left herself enjoy the waves of pleasure she was feeling, letting out quiet _ohh’s_, and _ahh’s_, and _mmm’s_. She sent the voice clip, and let herself imagine that Gendry was here, watching her, urging her to come for him.

She tried to remember the sounds he had made as he came when they were in the workshop, but her memory of it was fuzzy. She’d have to find an opportunity to hear him make those sounds again, she decided.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Shit, now I have to clean cum off my phone._ **

Arya bit her lip to stifle a giggle.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Have you come yet?_ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Not quite._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Wish I was there to help you out. I don’t know how I’m gonna keep my hands off you the next time I see you._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Probably best not to even try._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Probably. Guess I’ll just have to drag you back to that archive room and do all the things I’m imagining doing to you._ **

Arya felt her muscles coil at the thought.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Or better yet, I’ll bring you back to my place. Then you can make as much noise as you like._ **

Arya moaned involuntarily, but turned her face into her pillow when she realised Sansa might hear her. Her fingers rubbed furiously over her clit as she brought herself to the very edge.

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _I want to fuck you so badly Arya._ **

All of her muscles relaxed at once, and a tingling heat flowed from her throbbing core, all the way to her fingers and toes. She bit into her pillow to keep quiet as the orgasm shook her. When the throbbing pleasure had subsided and she’d caught her breath, she replied.

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _I think we both know it’s gonna happen sooner or later._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _The way things are going it seems unavoidable. Although I’m not in any hurry. I’m very much enjoying all of this._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Me too. But we can’t forget we still have a project to work on._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _I have a hard time concentrating on it when I’m near you. Why do you smell so good? It’s very unhelpful._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _I’ll be sure to stop showering immediately. Luckily for you I have excellent project management skills. I’m working on a plan for how we’re going to get everything done in time. We have to be organised leading up to the submission deadline._ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _I’m fully confident in your ability to get us there. I’m also fully confident in my ability to admire your ass in that tight grey skirt of yours._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Noted. You going to sleep now that you’ve dealt with that massive boner?_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Yeah I should, I’m meeting Pod for an early morning run._ **

** _Arya  
_ ** ** _Night Gendry_ **

** _Gendry  
_ ** ** _Night Sexy. I mean Arya._ **

She should have found his message cheesy, but she couldn’t deny the warm feeling that came over her. Smiling to herself, she sent a simple reply.

**_Arya  
_**💋

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time:  
Everyone is looking forward to the assignment being over, but there are still a few obstacles to overcome.
> 
> I hope this chapter was easier to read one handed than it was to write one handed ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @anniebibananie for her help and support.
> 
> Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think. This thing is mostly written, and I’ll be adding new chapters frequently. 
> 
> I’m @forge-heat on [ tumblr](https://forge-heat.tumblr.com), and I’ll be posting some edits for this fic over there. Come check it out, and be sure to say hi.


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